Shochu from Nagasaki

How do water, land and ingredients shape Nagasaki's drinks?

Iki, in the Genkai Sea, is a flat island with plentiful groundwater filtered through basalt, and rice and barley farming were traditionally strong. Breweries on the Shimabara peninsula use spring water from the Unzen volcano, and on the Goto islands some distilleries grow their own sweet potatoes. Ingredients and water differ from island to island, so the range of styles is wide.

What does Nagasaki shochu taste like?

The National Tax Agency's standard for Iki shochu describes a fresh barley aroma, a sweet, thick body from rice koji, and a crisp finish that comes from the groundwater. Some sweet-potato shochu from the Goto islands shows the gentle sweetness of the potato itself. Most sake breweries are small, and each has its own character.

A short history of Iki barley shochu

Iki lay on the trade route between the continent and Japan, and distilling knowledge is said to have arrived that way. The Iki distillers' cooperative says barley shochu began here around the sixteenth century and calls the island the birthplace of barley shochu. The GI document also states that Iki is the oldest place for barley shochu in the written record. It is said to have started as something farmers made for themselves.

What is the GI "Iki"?

It was designated on 30 June 1995 for single-distilled shochu. The grain must be barley only, the koji must be rice koji only, and koji to grain should be about 1 to 2 by weight. Only water taken inside Iki city may be used, fermentation and distillation happen in the city, and any storage and bottling must be there too. The Iki Shochu Management Committee checks each product.

Where are the breweries?

The Nagasaki Sake Brewers Association is made up of 23 breweries and distilleries making sake and honkaku shochu. Seven of them are on Iki, and there are others on the Shimabara peninsula, Tsushima, the Goto islands and the mainland.

Visiting and what to eat with it

Iki lies about 76 km north-west of Fukuoka (Hakata) in the Genkai Sea. Tours and tastings differ by brewery, so check official sites, and some breweries hold spring open days. Local specialities include fresh seafood, sea urchin gathered by women divers, and Iki beef, which are said to suit the sweetness of rice koji and the toasty barley in Iki shochu.