The most popular base ingredient for shochu in Japan, it’s the dominant ingredient in Kyushu, especially in its hometown of Kagoshima. Usually considered the most powerful of the shochu ingredients, brands are prized for their “sweet-potato stink” (imo-kusai or 芋くさい), which is unique among worldwide distilled alcohols, but isn’t for everyone. Imo shochus often use rice for their first fermentation mash, adding sweet potatoes only to the secondary, main mash fermentation, meaning rice plays a large role in providing umami and sweetness.

Kagoshima is the homebase for the majority of imo shochu distillers. The Geographical Indication (GI) for shochu from Kagoshima is Satsuma Shochu, which means the shochu must use Kagoshima-sourced water and sweet potatoes, and be actually distilled (single-distillation of course) in Kagoshima. Amusingly, though this GI is ubiquitous, and you’ll see it more than any of the other three GIs, the most popular brand of shochu in Japan (sweet potato or otherwise), Kuro Kirishima, is actually made next door in Miyazaki, another huge producer of imo shochu. According to the team at Japan Distilled, ancient Satsuma included Kagoshima as well as some neighboring provinces like Miyazaki, but these were not included in the Satsuma Shochu GI.

While every shochu fan eventually loves sweet potato, it’s certainly the most acquired of the shochu tastes. Between its unique aroma, full-body, and often sharp finish, it takes some getting used to, and it’s sad that it’s usually people’s first and last impression of shochu. That said, in recent years, many distillers have begun experimenting with vaccum distillation and slightly aged sweet potatoes to provide tropical fruit characteristics and a far lighter body and finish. Some of these new shochu varieties have won awards, including Hamada Syuzo’s Daiyame (1st prize in the shochu distilled spirits category at the IWSC in 2019), and I personally believe shochu’s overseas growth will be driven by this segment. There are about 150 distillers in Kagoshima and  Miyazaki alone, and with so much competition, I expect only more experimentation and exciting innovations in the future.