In Kagoshima, where there are about 100 shochu distilleries that have been in business for more than 100 years, one shochu distillery stands out from the crowd.
Komaki Joryujo, located in Satsuma-cho, Satsuma-gun, in the northwestern part of Kagoshima Prefecture, was established in 1909. The distillery is located in a rich natural setting, with mountains such as Mt. The brewery has suffered flood damage three times due to the Kawauchi River overflowing, but each time the brewery has resurrected robustly with the support of the people around it and the brewery workers working together as one.
Currently, the brewery is run by two people: the president and elder brother, Kazunori Komaki, and his younger brother, Isekichi Komaki (real name: Shoutoku), the senior managing director and third-generation toji. Representative brands include “Issho,” created in 2009 to commemorate the brewery’s 100th anniversary; “Isekichi-don,” named after the first founder, Isekichi Komaki, and the second chairman, Isekichi Isekichi II, and loved by the local community; and “Komaki,” brewed using traditional techniques with both primary and secondary brewing in a turtle. The name “Issho” is derived from the first letter of each of Kazunori’s and Shoutoku’s names, with the meaning of a lifelong relationship.
The bottle and label of “Issho” are stylishly designed with a family crest motif, in keeping with the times. The “Issho Bronze” is brewed at ultra-low temperature fermentation using beer yeast, the “Issho Silver” is brewed by combining the black koji mold and yeast that have been cultivated and isolated for 100 years, and long-established techniques, as part of the brewing process for the next 100 years of shochu. The “Beni Komaki” is made from Beni Satsuma sweet potatoes and brewed to have a sweet and fruity taste. In addition, there is “Ikkokuja,” a 100% sweetpotato shochu made from koji (rice malt), which is usually used for sweetpotato shochu, and other excellent products.
When you visit Komaki Joryujo, the first thing that will surprise you is that the brewers have uniforms. The uniforms are said to have been made in the image of the Industrial Revolution in England, in keeping with the era in which the distillery was founded, and they have a passionate desire to cherish the history and origins that their predecessors have built. Indeed, the sight of them smiling happily in front of the brewery has a nostalgic atmosphere of workers as seen in movies.
While sake is “brewed,” shochu is “distilled. The addition of a manufacturing process called “distillation,” in which heated steam is cooled after fermentation to extract the liquid, removes impurities and increases the purity of the alcohol. At Komaki Joryujo, even the selection of the sweet potatoes is done with the thought, “Will my loved ones eat it?” The ingredients used to make shochu, the balance of fermentation and distillation, and each step of the process is carefully and meticulously selected.
In 2020, Mr. Komaki led a group of young shochu distillers to form the “Kyushu Authentic Shochu Young Men’s Association” in order to establish shochu as a distilled spirit region that can take pride in itself and not just be a passing fad. Komaki Joryujo is truly a front runner in leading the future of shochu.
