New Japanese spirit offers ‘unprecedented’ aroma for mixologists

Hamada Distillery will bring Daiyame 40, an expression of Japanese spirit Honkaku shochu, to the UK this year. It’s thought that its “unprecedented fragrance” could become a secret weapon in mixologists’ toolkits.

Having launched its unique Daiyame 40 spirit online in May, Hamada Distillery plans to start exporting the release globally by the end of 2021, meaning it’s not long until it arrives in the UK.

The number one shochu maker in the “shochu kingdom” of Kagoshima in south Japan, Hamada developed the spirit specifically for the overseas cocktail market and claims it has an “unprecedented lychee-like aroma”, the likes of which mixologists have never experienced.

The 25% ABV spirit gets its distinctive lychee fragrance from sweet potatoes that are aged to amplify their aroma components and then brewed with black malt. The fermented and matured moromi (mash) is distilled under reduced pressure at a low temperature of 40 to 50 degrees Celsius to produce a well-balanced fruity citrus aroma.

Honkaku shochu is an indigenous Japanese alcohol beverage with a 500-year tradition of single distillation, using ingredients such as sweet potatoes (imo), rice (kome), barley (mugi), and brown sugar (kokutou), as well as yeast and koji, which are essential micro-organisms for fermentation.

While the off-trade shochu market grew by only 5% from 2019 to 2020, it is hoped that the introduction of the super-premium Daiyame 40 to UK bars will increase consumer awareness as mixologists get creative with the spirit in cocktails.

Hamada Distillery will exhibit at the ImbibeLive exhibition in London on 13-14 September and will be offering tasting opportunities for restaurants, bars, mixologists, sommeliers, and other professionals.