Shochu that goes with apple
Orchard and stone fruit
These are bottles to mix apple into. Some of them taste of it too, and where that is the reason a bottle is here, its line says so.
Cold-pressed juice or thin slices. Green apple is already in the aroma of a lot of rice shochu, so this amplifies what is there rather than adding something new.
Best bottles for apple
The strongest matches in the catalogue, across every style. Everything below is the same ranking opened out by what the shochu is made from.
Apple juice and a crisp bottle stay refreshing
The bottle is already described as apple, and the fruit repeats it
Green apple is one of the notes a ginjo-like aroma is made of
Cask-aged bottles have the wood; apple has the orchard
rice, ginjo-like, floral, aged
rice, soft, umami, rich
rice, umami, crisp, sweet
rice, vanilla, smooth, cask
rice, vanilla, smooth, sweet
rice, ginjo-like
barley, crisp, clean, aged
barley, smooth, crisp, aged
Grouped by what the shochu is made from, because that is the level the reasoning works at: what this does to an imo shochu is a fact about imo shochu rather than about one bottle. Within each style the strongest matches come first, and bottles we pour are marked rather than promoted. The scores are the same engine that recommends a mixer from a bottle, run the other way round, but the labels are not: a bottle page badges at most twelve strong matches and at most three per family, so that the twelve describe that bottle rather than the same citrus and soda every time. Here there is no cap, so a pairing badged strong on this page can read as a good match on the bottle's own.
Mugi shochu
Barley's light sweetness reads as orchard fruit already, so apple and pear extend the bottle rather than decorate it.
Apple juice and a crisp bottle stay refreshing
barley, crisp, clean, aged
barley, smooth, crisp, aged
barley, rich, crisp
Cask-aged bottles have the wood; apple has the orchard
Show the other 94 apple matches
barley, smooth, rich, whisky-like
barley, rich, full-bodied, cask
The bottle is already described as apple, and the fruit repeats it
barley, vanilla, spice, cask
barley, citrus, melon, banana
barley, cask, aged
barley, soft, silky, smooth
barley, smooth, crisp, aged
barley, rich, cask, aged
barley, crisp, light-bodied, fruity
barley, vanilla, nutty, toast
barley, cask, aged
barley, dry, cask, aged
barley, caramel, rich, sweet
barley, clean, off-dry, smooth
barley, bright, clean, light-bodied
barley, earthy, mineral, pepper
barley, sesame, caramel, chocolate
barley, chocolate, umami, smooth
barley, chocolate, earthy, smooth
barley, tropical fruit, light-bodied
barley, soft, light-bodied, clean
barley, smooth, rich, light-bodied
barley, smooth, long finish, aged
barley, soft, clean
barley, smooth, light-bodied, clean
barley, umami, rich, aged
barley, smooth, rich, aged
barley, umami, rich, sharp
barley, chocolate, rich, full-bodied
barley, citrus, melon, white peach
barley, umami, savory, clean
barley, rice, umami
barley, honey, chocolate, spice
barley, roasted grain
barley, sesame, grassy, chocolate
barley, smooth, mint, caramel
barley, vanilla, chocolate, nutty
barley, toast, savory, rich
barley, toast, rich, light-bodied
barley, toast, spice, rich
barley, banana, white peach, tea
barley, melon, banana, floral
barley, chocolate, coffee, rich
barley, smooth, dry
barley, white peach, cherry, soft
barley, soft, chocolate, toast
barley, banana, toast
barley, pear, banana, bread
barley, caramel, chocolate, smoky
barley, jasmine, honey, vanilla
barley, toast, light-bodied, sweet
barley, toast, cereal, rich
barley, fruity, light-bodied
barley, banana, berry, bread
Kome shochu
Rice shochu distilled with ginjo yeast carries apple and melon esters already, so orchard fruit is amplification.
The bottle is already described as apple, and the fruit repeats it
Green apple is one of the notes a ginjo-like aroma is made of
Cask-aged bottles have the wood; apple has the orchard
rice, ginjo-like, floral, aged
Apple juice and a crisp bottle stay refreshing
Show the other 64 apple matches
rice, vanilla, smooth, cask
rice, vanilla, smooth, sweet
rice, light-bodied, cask
rice, banana, vanilla, chocolate
rice, vanilla, cask, aged
rice, steamed rice, citrus, pineapple
rice, smooth, aged, cask
rice, smooth, crisp, aged
rice, cask, aged
rice, smooth, light-bodied, sweet
rice, vanilla, caramel, chocolate
rice, rich, aged
rice, soft, rich, aged
rice, citrus, dried fruit, floral
rice, rich, clean, bright
rice, soft, light-bodied, aged
rice, light-bodied, dry, aged
rice, vanilla, smooth, fruity
rice, citrus, silky, light-bodied
rice, floral, fruity, smooth
rice, melon, vanilla, toast
rice, rich, bright
rice, pear, jasmine, light-bodied
rice, smooth, rich
rice, soft, smoky, creamy texture
rice, light-bodied, clean
Awamori
Cask-aged bottles have the wood; apple has the orchard
Apple juice and a crisp bottle stay refreshing
rice, sweet, crisp, smooth
Show the other 4 apple matches
rice, steamed rice, soft, caramel
rice, sweet, soft, smooth
rice, smooth, crisp, aged
Kasutori, chestnut and other bases
Apple juice and a crisp bottle stay refreshing
Cask-aged bottles have the wood; apple has the orchard
barley, smooth, honey, vanilla
smooth, rich, full-bodied, sweet
Kokuto shochu
Cask-aged bottles have the wood; apple has the orchard
kokuto, smooth, smoky, cask
kokuto, smooth, cask, aged
Shiso, sesame, yuzu and other flavoured shochu
Apple juice and a crisp bottle stay refreshing
Korui, the continuous-still shochu
Apple juice and a crisp bottle stay refreshing
barley, soft, crisp, clean
Soba shochu
Cask-aged bottles have the wood; apple has the orchard
Imo shochu
Apple gets buried under sweet potato