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KIGO is a genuine Japanese Shochu, distilled at the picturesque Kyo-Yo distillery in Nichinan which is located in the Miyazaki perfecture on Kyushu, Japan's most southern island.
KIGO is made using the finest local sweet potatoes organically grown in Miyazaki's temperate climate. In addition the highest grade of Yamadanichiki rice is used with blackk and white koji, finished off with water from a local mountain spring.
Mr Wattanabe, a sixth generation Shochu maker, has honed his skills mkaing award winning Shochu. By using only traditional methods of Shochu production he has made KIGO.
KIGO is a handmade, fine, delicate spirit with nuances and subtleties of flavour.
KIGO is versatile in its uses from being served neat on the rocks, with water or green tea, to its use in cocktails. It is perfect accompaniment to food and brings a convivial atmosphere to any gathering.
Points of Difference
Artisanal rather than mass produced like a lot of brands you see in Uk.
Great visual back bar label designed by carter-wong design. With English info on back, (which you don't find on many other shochu labels!)
17% abv which allows you to drink through a meal and not be smashed at the end.
Same with drinking during an evening.
Smoother, softer easier to mix in drinks and in cocktails: (doesn't have the funky aggressive notes traditional shochus have).
Very clean delicate notes (I have had spirit experts doing tasting notes for me)
One described it as “exquisite water”.
Goes extreamly well with food Japanese, Korean, Chinese, Thai.
Heath benefits: A lot less bad for you than drinking quantities of other
Western spirits due to the way it is made. (I have lots of studies from university of Kyoto with reasons will decipher and make usuable.)
What KIGO as a word means:
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ky%C5%ABsh%C5%AB
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Kigo
Kigo (季語, "season word"?) (plural kigo) is a word or phrase associated with a particular season, used in Japanese poetry. Kigo are used in the collaborative linked-verse forms renga and renku, as well as in haiku, to indicate the season referred to in the stanza. They are valuable in providing economy of expression.
Kigo and seasons
The association of kigo with a particular season may be obvious, though sometimes it is more subtle. Pumpkins (kabocha), for example, are a winter squash that is associated with the autumn harvest.
The full moon as photographed by the Galileo spacecraft.
It may be less obvious why the moon (tsuki) is an autumn kigo, since it is visible year round. In autumn the days become shorter and the nights longer, yet they are still warm enough to stay outside, so one is more likely to notice the moon. Often the night sky will be free of clouds so that also helps with noticing the moon. Autumn is also the time when the full moon can help farmers work under the moonlight to harvest their crops (see harvest moon). Japanese seasons. From Wikipedia.
The area from which it comes:
Miyazaki Perfecture
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Miyazaki_Prefecture
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Miyazaki_Prefecture
Who makes it:
Kyoya Distillery Info:
Shinichiro Watanabe, President and master distiller
The Kyoya Distillery has been using unglazed large pots in shochu production since its foundation in 1834 (the fifth year of the Tenpo era). The use of unglazed pots and small batches (800 liters per pot) induces natural fermentation that requires neither artificial heating nor cooling.
Kyoya's company policy is to make shochu that is friendly to nature and the environment. Kyoya's subsidiary, the Agri Company, grows organic sweet potatoes used as a key ingredient of shochu. Additionally, the company grows rice by taking advantage of the behavior of aigamo (mixed-breed) ducks. These ducks eat weeds, plow the field with their movements and leave droppings, making the rice fields fertile and healthy without using any agricultural chemicals. In spite of Kyoya's glorious heritage as one of the oldest distilleries in Miyazaki, Mr. Watanabe insists, "we will always pursue new dimensions of shochu without being contented".
What Does KIGO taste like?
Appearance:
Crystal, lucent, silvery, lustrous, slightly viscous
Nose:
Roasted corn, buttered sweet potato mash, cherry blossom and griddled courgette
Palate:
Very soft and clean- refreshing and cleansing. Sweet and floral, with a mild bitterness to balance. Notes of marshmallow, rose and genmaicha
Starts slightly salty/sweet, then evens out to a slight bitterness with a long clean finish
