Mitake (三岳)

One of Japan’s most famous shochus, Mitake, from Mitake Shuzo, is made on the impossibly idyllic Yakushima Island (a UNESCO site), 135km south of Kagoshima.  Given that Yakushima has just over 13k residents and is pretty remote, that such a shochu is made there must mean it’s something special. Indeed, in its marketing, the purity and sweetness of Yakushima water contribute significantly to the umami and flavor of Mitake. Make no mistake though, this is an unaged satsuma imo sweet potato shochu. It is full-on sweet potato on the nose, with the standard sweet harshness on the palate. It’s a bit lighter than many standard imo shochus, and while it is relatively clean in the finish, you won’t mistake it for anything but what it is.

JC Sep 2021: I tried to get behind it, but for me, it’s just a standard imo shochu. I didn’t get a lot of different flavors or umami notes (from the water), and like most unaged imo shochu, it’s best with hot or room temperature water. Ice works about as well as you’d think – it increases the bitter/harsh notes and kills the sweetness. 7/10

I’ve read that Mitake is made in quite limited production runs, but it’s sold by DONKI in HK for gosh sakes… I wonder if they’re giving us a knockoff version? Anyway, it’s cheap (~HKD 130$) and good if you like this style. I’ll wait until winter for oyuwari personally though.