Shochu that goes with bénédictine
Wine, liqueur and spirits
D.O.M. Bénédictine, on most back bars. Rounder and much sweeter than the alpine liqueurs, so it suits bottles that already lean sweet rather than clean.
Best bottles for bénédictine
The strongest matches in the catalogue, across every style. Everything below is the same ranking opened out by what the shochu is made from.
Rice shochu stirred with vermouth is a martini at half the proof.
Honey and saffron landing on a bottle that already smells of honey
rice, umami, rich, sherry-like
rice, citrus, dried fruit, floral
rice, light-bodied, cask, koji
rice, banana, vanilla, chocolate
barley, honey, vanilla, umami
rice, vanilla, cask, aged
rice, melon, vanilla, toast
barley, honey, vanilla, rich
rice, cask, aged
Wood and resin belong in the same stirred glass
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 and anything poured at our bar come first. The ranking is the same engine that recommends a mixer from a bottle, run the other way round.
Kome shochu
Rice shochu stirred with vermouth is a martini at half the proof.
35 more, all of them in Kome shochu
Mugi shochu
12 more, all of them in Mugi shochu
Imo shochu
Kokuto shochu
2 more, all of them in Kokuto shochu
Shiso, sesame, tea and other single-botanical shochu
3 more, all of them in Shiso, sesame, tea and other single-botanical shochu
Awamori
2 more, all of them in Awamori