Shochu that goes with maraschino
Wine, liqueur and spirits
These are bottles to mix maraschino into. Some of them taste of it too, and where that is the reason a bottle is here, its line says so.
Luxardo. It is sweetened, whatever the name suggests: their own account of the process ends by adding a syrup of water and sugar to bring it to 32 percent. What makes it read as dry is the stone. The cherries sit in larch vats for up to three years, pits, leaves and all, before the lot is distilled and the heart rested in ash, and that almond bitterness arrives before the sugar does. So measure it as a sweetener that tastes bitter, not as a dry modifier, and a bar spoon changes a stirred drink completely.
Best bottles for maraschino
The strongest matches in the catalogue, across every style. Everything below is the same ranking opened out by what the shochu is made from.
Maraschino is what makes a stirred aged drink taste finished rather than flat
rice, floral, aged
rice, ginjo-like, floral, aged
floral, clean, sharp, aged
rice, floral, smooth, soft
rice, floral, honey, caramel
rice, smooth, aged
rice, aged
rice, steamed rice, soft, caramel
barley, vanilla, nutty, toast
It lands exactly on a cherry note the bottle already carries
rice, nutty, dry, 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.
Kome shochu
Rice shochu stirred with vermouth is a martini with koji where the juniper was. The strength depends on the bottle, not on the swap. Most shochu is 25 and lands well under a gin martini. The 40 percent bottles land beside one.
Maraschino is what makes a stirred aged drink taste finished rather than flat
rice, ginjo-like, floral, aged
rice, floral, smooth, soft
Show the other 60 maraschino matches
The bottle is already floral, and this puts more of that in the glass.
rice, floral, fruity, smooth
The bottle carries the grain and the mixer carries it roasted, so it is one ingredient reaching the glass two ways.
rice, vanilla, smooth, fruity
rice, melon, vanilla, toast
rice, pear, jasmine, light-bodied
rice, light-bodied, clean
rice, aged, cask, smooth
rice, soft, umami, rich
rice, vanilla, smooth, cask
rice, rich, aged
rice, soft, rich, aged
rice, soft, light-bodied, aged
rice, light-bodied, dry, aged
rice, banana, vanilla, chocolate
rice, vanilla, cask, aged
rice, smooth, aged, cask
rice, smooth, crisp, aged
rice, cask, aged
On an already sweet bottle it tips the glass into syrup
rice, smooth, light-bodied, sweet
Luxardo. It is sweetened, whatever the name suggests: their own account of the process ends by adding a syrup of water and sugar to bring it to 32 percent. What makes it read as dry is the stone. The cherries sit in larch vats for up to three years, pits, leaves and all, before the lot is distilled and the heart rested in ash, and that almond bitterness arrives before the sugar does. So measure it as a sweetener that tastes bitter, not as a dry modifier, and a bar spoon changes a stirred drink completely.
rice, rich, clean, bright
rice, light-bodied, cask
rice, citrus, apple, pineapple
rice, rich, bright
rice, smooth, rich
rice, umami, crisp, sweet
rice, citrus, silky, light-bodied
rice, vanilla, smooth, sweet
rice, soft, smoky, creamy texture
Awamori
Awamori has enough character to be the base of a cocktail, not the neutral part of one. So an orange liqueur or a mezcal sits beside it instead of covering it.
Maraschino is what makes a stirred aged drink taste finished rather than flat
rice, steamed rice, soft, caramel
It lands exactly on a cherry note the bottle already carries
rice, nutty, dry, aged
rich, full-bodied, aged, umami
Show the other 91 maraschino matches
aged, caramel, smooth, spice
rice, clean, smooth, aged
rice, pear, caramel, rich
rice, smooth, savory, aged
rice, cherry, vanilla, chocolate
rice, umami, clean, light-bodied
rice, bright, aged
rice, clean, bright, aged
rice, citrus, cereal, aged
rice, soft, aged
rice, smooth, soft, aged
rice, soft, clean, aged
rice, roasted grain, aged
rice, sherry-like, aged
rice, smooth, crisp, aged
rice, vanilla, funky, creamy texture
rice, citrus, tropical fruit, vanilla
rice, smooth, soft, clean
Luxardo. It is sweetened, whatever the name suggests: their own account of the process ends by adding a syrup of water and sugar to bring it to 32 percent. What makes it read as dry is the stone. The cherries sit in larch vats for up to three years, pits, leaves and all, before the lot is distilled and the heart rested in ash, and that almond bitterness arrives before the sugar does. So measure it as a sweetener that tastes bitter, not as a dry modifier, and a bar spoon changes a stirred drink completely.
rich, smooth, clean, soft
clean, off-dry, soft, light-bodied
umami, rich, full-bodied, cask
rice, caramel, chocolate, crisp
rice, soft, smooth
rice, earthy, mushroom, rich
On an already sweet bottle it tips the glass into syrup
rice, soft, smooth, rich
rice, smooth, rich, sweet
rice, soft, rich, sweet
rice, sweet, smooth, rich
rice, sweet, crisp, smooth
rice, citrus, roasted grain, sweet
rice, smooth, maple, umami
rice, citrus, vanilla, chocolate
rice, sweet, soft, smooth
rice, smooth, sweet, aged
rice, smooth, sweet, oily
rice, smooth, sweet, aged
Mugi shochu
Maraschino is what makes a stirred aged drink taste finished rather than flat
The bottle is already floral, and this puts more of that in the glass.
barley, sesame, caramel, chocolate
barley, chocolate, umami, smooth
barley, crisp, clean, aged
Show the other 77 maraschino matches
barley, smooth, crisp, aged
barley, chocolate, earthy, smooth
barley, smooth, long finish, aged
barley, smooth, light-bodied, clean
barley, smoky, soft, cask
barley, umami, rich, aged
barley, smooth, rich, aged
barley, smooth, rich, aged
barley, smooth, rich, whisky-like
barley, rich, full-bodied, cask
barley, vanilla, spice, cask
The stone in the distillate reads as almond, which meets a nutty bottle
barley, smooth, crisp, cask
barley, toast, spice, rich
barley, chocolate, coffee, rich
barley, caramel, chocolate, smoky
barley, cask, aged
barley, jasmine, honey, vanilla
barley, soft, silky, smooth
barley, rich, cask, aged
barley, toast, cereal, rich
barley, dry, cask, aged
The bottle carries the grain and the mixer carries it roasted, so it is one ingredient reaching the glass two ways.
barley, crisp, clean
barley, tropical fruit, light-bodied
barley, smooth, rich, light-bodied
barley, pear, soft, spice
barley, rich, crisp
barley, soft, clean
barley, smooth
barley, umami, rich, sharp
barley, chocolate, rich, full-bodied
barley, citrus, melon, white peach
barley, rice, umami
barley, rice, umami
barley, earthy, clean, bright
barley, honey, chocolate, spice
barley, roasted grain
barley, smooth, mint, caramel
barley, banana, white peach, tea
barley, umami, light-bodied
barley, smooth, dry
barley, soft, chocolate, toast
barley, banana, toast
barley, crisp, light-bodied, fruity
barley, fruity, light-bodied
barley, banana, berry, bread
barley, toast, savory, rich
barley, soft, cask, aged
barley, smooth, crisp, aged
barley, cask, aged
On an already sweet bottle it tips the glass into syrup
barley, umami, rich, sweet
barley, sesame, grassy, chocolate
barley, white peach, cherry, soft
barley, pear, banana, bread
Imo shochu
Maraschino is what makes a stirred aged drink taste finished rather than flat
sweet potato, tropical fruit, floral, smooth
The bottle is already floral, and this puts more of that in the glass.
sweet potato, floral, full-bodied
sweet potato, lychee, floral, fruity
sweet potato, smooth, nutty, umami
Show the other 22 maraschino matches
sweet potato, tropical fruit, bright, aged
sweet potato, smooth, aged
sweet potato, milky, soft, aged
sweet potato, aged
sweet potato, umami, soft, full-bodied
sweet potato, spice, clean, sharp
sweet potato, light-bodied, dry, aged
sweet potato, umami, rich, aged
sweet potato, fruity, earthy, mineral
sweet potato, umami, soft, clean
sweet potato, earthy, crisp, aged
sweet potato, whisky-like, aged
sweet potato, umami, rich, aged
sweet potato, clean, aged
sweet potato, light-bodied, clean, dry
sweet potato, lychee, chocolate, bright
sweet potato, soft, smooth, rich
sweet potato, lychee, white peach, tropical fruit
sweet potato, floral, soft, maple
Soba shochu
The stone in the distillate reads as almond, which meets a nutty bottle
Maraschino is what makes a stirred aged drink taste finished rather than flat
buckwheat, cask, aged
The bottle carries the grain and the mixer carries it roasted, so it is one ingredient reaching the glass two ways.
buckwheat, barley, rice
Show the other 3 maraschino matches
buckwheat, umami
buckwheat, nutty, earthy, vanilla
Kokuto shochu
Maraschino is what makes a stirred aged drink taste finished rather than flat
kokuto, cask, aged
kokuto, rich, long finish, aged
kokuto, smooth, smoky, cask
Show the other 2 maraschino matches
Kasutori, chestnut and other bases
Maraschino is what makes a stirred aged drink taste finished rather than flat
smooth, rich, aged
barley, smooth, honey, vanilla
Show the other 1 maraschino matches
Shiso, sesame, yuzu and other flavoured shochu
The bottle is already floral, and this puts more of that in the glass.
The stone in the distillate reads as almond, which meets a nutty bottle