Kanosuke Distillery (Kagoshima)
After my visit to Komasa Jyozo in February, we got into a car and went about a mile down the road to Kanosuke Distillery. Komasa is a shochu brewery with a nearly 150 year history on the seaside of Kagoshima's Hioki City and its newest project is Kanosuke Distillery, making world-renowned whisky.
We have been carrying Kanosuke whiskies from the onset – they released their New Born Single Malt in 2017 to much whisky enthusiast buzz and industry excitement. In 2023, they released their flagship Single Malt, which continues to be a best seller here at the shop.
The distillery was designed and built by our friend Shin Nakahara in 2018, and it is a at once modern yet rustic. It stands as a part of the seaside landscape – quiet, unobtrusive. I have not been to any distilleries in Scotland but I got a touch of the vibe. But there were also agave peppered out front; a nod to Mexico. Understated elegance is what I would call it overall.
Today Kanosuke continues to win whisky awards and accolades worldwide, but what I loved most about the distillery visit is their reverence for their own history as shochu makers. Shochu is the backbone of the company and they don't let you forget it at this distillery! First off, the distillery is named after 2nd generation president of Komasa Jyozo, Kanosuke Komasa. This man is a legend in the shochu world, as he was the first to develop a cask-aged shochu for the market in 1957, calling it Mellowed Kozuru.
"The second-generation owner of Komasa Jyozo, Kanosuke Komasa sought to elevate the status of shochu, which was considered a low-class drink during the post-war food shortages. Believing that, like whisky and brandy, shochu could become even more delicious with barrel-aging, he began barrel-aging rice shochu in 1951 (after six years, it was released to much skepticism)," says Yuki Fujita of Komasa Jyozo.
Today, there is an abundance of barrel-aged shochus – whether made with rice, barley, or sweet potatoes. Kanosuke Komasa was a true visionary of the time and it was only natural for Kanosuke's grandchildren to carry the torch of spirits-making and move into the whisky realm. Many of Kanosuke whiskies are proudly aged in Mellowed Kozuru shochu casks!
I was lucky to get a distillery tour from Shunichi Nakamura, head distiller and chief blender at Kanosuke (below). He is gracious, funny, and willing to explain everything to a newbie like myself.
The production facility is impressive, as everything is brand spankin' new.
Rana for scale!
Washbacks:
Nakamura-san with a portrait of the late Kanosuke Komasa:
Barrel-aging (some are Mellowed Kozuru casks!):
Behold the centerpiece of the distillery: the tasting room!
With wall-to-wall views of the China Sea, kick back and enjoy a dram or two.
Encased in glass, three versions of Mellowed Kozuru through the ages:
My favorite part of the tour was hopping back into the car to ride down to the local, abandoned elementary school... where they age more whisky!
Barrel storage in the school gym!
Mellow land, mellow whisky.
Thank you Nakamura-san and Nakahara-san for an incredible tour! I can't wait to return and see what else is in store at the distillery.
