The Distillery Behind Sudachi Shochu Takes On Shikoku's First Whisky

Yasuhito Maeda, president of the Tokushima-based drinks company Nisshin Shurui, recently spoke on a Japanese radio programme about the firm’s history. Why is a distillery that has kept a staple spirit made with local citrus going for over 40 years now taking on whisky? His account shows clearly the doubts and decisions a regional producer faces when it moves into a new field.

Sudachi Shochu, born in a citrus-growing region

Nisshin Shurui grew out of Maeda Shuzo, a brewery that has been making sake since around 1857, at the end of the Edo period. After the war, Mr Maeda’s grandfather set up a new company to branch out beyond sake. Today it handles somewhere between 100 and 200 products, counting different sizes, including sake, shochu, liqueurs and fruit wines.

The turning point was Sudachi Shochu, launched in 1985. The sudachi is a small green citrus fruit native to Tokushima, with a sharp acidity and aroma similar to lime. At the time, liberalisation of orange imports was under way and growers were looking for citrus to replace mandarins. The prefecture was putting great effort into promoting sudachi, and the opening of the Onaruto Bridge, linking Honshu and Shikoku, in the same year gave a further boost. Development moved quickly to produce a souvenir that could represent Tokushima.

A staple kept as it is, new flavours released separately

According to Mr Maeda, Sudachi Shochu has been adjusted in small ways to suit the times, but its flavour is essentially the same as when it was launched. When the company wants to change the taste, its policy is to leave the staple untouched and release the result as a new product. One example is Super Sudachi Shochu, which has a stronger flavour so that the sudachi character stays clear even when mixed with soda water or flavoured soda.

Whisky after years of hesitation: Awano

Nisshin Shurui obtained a whisky production licence around 1960, but among Western-style spirits it began with gin, which makes it easier to use Tokushima ingredients. Whisky requires heavy capital investment, and it also needs people who can judge the flavour that changes from cask to cask and turn it into a finished product. Mr Maeda says he agonised for 10 to 20 years over whether it could really be done.

The deciding factor was the Covid pandemic. It gave him time to think carefully, and with distilleries opening one after another across the country, he decided that if he did not act now, Shikoku would have no chance. A few years ago the Japanese whisky industry introduced a voluntary standard: to be called “Japanese whisky”, a spirit must use only domestic ingredients and be matured for at least three years in wooden casks in Japan. Awano is the first product to emerge from this movement.

If you want to enjoy this story in Europe, start with the aroma of sudachi. Try a sudachi spirit mixed with soda water, in place of lime or yuzu, alongside seafood or fried dishes, and you will notice its sharp acidity. When choosing Japanese whisky, it is also worth checking whether the bottle carries the “Japanese Whisky” label that follows the industry standard. Look beyond the big-name brands to new bottles from long-established regional makers such as Awano, and you will see how widely Japanese whisky has spread.