One of the most famous Kokuto shochus, Rento, from Amami Oshima Kaiun Shuzo, is an unaged black sugar shochu. It’s named after the musical term “Lento” because, amazingly, the distillate is aged in stainless steel tanks with classical music piped in for three months. The acoustic vibration apparently encourages aging, and at the very least is an incredible story to tell people when you drink it.
Rento is mildly sweet on the nose and light through the palate, while keeping the trademark roundness of kokuto shochu all the way through. It’s best on the rocks or with soda, and amazing with all kinds of food.
From https://www.lento.co.jp/en/product/lento.html:
Acoustic aging is a method of having shochu age slowly in a cradle with music.
Lento is aged for about three months, exposed to classical music by great composers such as Mozart, Beethoven and Vivaldi, which is converted into vibrations by the tank-mounted transducer. This process creates a mellow, gentle taste and rich flavor.
If you like Rento, definitely check out their website. They are one of the few shochu producers to have a serious English page, and it’s full of interesting info. Rento is by far their most popular product, so I was surprised to see they make 9 other products!
JC Nov-22: Rento is always a happy sight for me at restaurants because it’s 1) delicious and 2) affordable. It goes so well with food that it’s almost always a must-order at yakitori, especially if the people I’m with aren’t too familiar with shochu. It’s super easy with ice and soda, and it’s an amazing social lubricant. Even women like it! Thank goodness for Rento.
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