Set a distillery tour as the destination of your trip and tour the surrounding land.
Such a way of enjoying is also good.
Speaking of liquor, beer and sometimes wine? Even so, if you visit the distillery and learn about the process of making whiskey, its history, and the thoughts of the craftsmen, you may naturally want to drink whiskey.
Speaking of domestic whiskey, Suntory such as Yamazaki and Hibiki, Taketsuru and Nikka (Asahi) in Yoichi are famous, but Ichirose Malt (Venture Whiskey Chichibu Distillery) is also famous for domestic whiskey. ..
It seems that there are more than 10 distilleries that produce whiskey on a small scale other than the above. It seems that the sake brewery mainly produces whiskey.
The Kosho Distillery in Kagoshima, which was founded in 2017 with such domestic whiskey, is a distillery that is familiar to those who know it now.
Since I went to the distillery, I would like to tell you what kind of place, equipment and atmosphere it is made in.
Access: Approximately 15 minutes by taxi from "Ishuin" station on the JR Kagoshima main line (approximately 40 minutes from Kagoshima station)
Distillery reception and shop
The Kosho Distillery started in 2017, but it is the Kosho Sake Brewery in Kagoshima, which is famous for shochu.
The view from the parking lot. I'm out.You can see the other side where you are making Kosho Sake Brewing Imo Shochu.
The sign before going to the entrance. It's simple but fashionable.
If you walk along this guide, you will find the reception.
Looking back at the entrance, you can see such a magnificent view as a barn. The weather was fine on this day, so it looked pretty beautiful.
The space that doubles as a receptionist and a shop has a nice atmosphere. The ceiling is missing and the back is covered with glass, so the feeling of openness is outstanding.
W.C's sign is also ◎ It is good to finish this wall like this.
The time you wait in this reception will raise your expectations.
I bought a rice shochu called "Melokozuru Excellence" (the shochu in the photo above) that was aged in oak barrels, but I recommend it because it is delicious.
I arrived a little early, but since we were the only ones on this day's tour, it was a little early, but did you start the tour?
Because it is a tour course, I was wondering if there was a guide specialist, but I was able to spend a luxurious time with a craftsman giving a one-on-one explanation.
Distillery tour
You can see the whiskey manufacturing site and aged barrels from a short distance from the history of Kosho Sake Brewery and Kosho to whiskey making, and enjoy tasting at the bar.
The second generation of this Kosho Sake Brewery is famous for the "Mellow Kozuru", which was made by storing rice shochu in barrels and aging it in 1957 with reference to whiskey and brandy. (You can still buy it)
The story went awry, but the second generation tried to create a theme park centered on Melokozuru (unfortunately it didn't happen), and the current fourth president said, "A world-class distillation. It seems that the Kosho Distillery was built on this land because of the desire to create a place.
It's pretty nice to have such a story.
It's been 3 years since 2017, so the buildings and pot stills were shiny.
The person in charge was excited to finally be able to produce whiskey aged for 3 years.
The craftsman will explain the process of "saccharification" and "fermentation" called preparation in detail and in an easy-to-understand manner.
It's amazing because there aren't many opportunities to see it up close.
Next, "distillation" is performed, and finally, "aging" storage is performed.
The biggest feature of Kosho Distillery is that there are three pot stills (distillers), each with a different angle.
Normally, distillation is performed twice, but by using pot stills with different angles during the second distillation, the taste and aroma of the undiluted sake are different.
The aging is placed in the space inside this distillery, but since it is close to the sea, the environment is such that the sea breeze directly hits it, so water and alcohol gradually add water and alcohol during aging, which is called "Angel's share". It seems that the amount of evaporation is quite large.
The craftsman said that the environment is quite harsh for whiskey. It may be good because the scent of the tide is slightly scented in whiskey.
The fact that the quantity of the final product will decrease must be reflected in the price, but Kosho Brewery has released the product before that so far. We give priority to spreading it.
In the near future, the plan was to create a storage room near the distillery where it could be aged a little more slowly. In terms of space, it will fill up in the current location.
You talked about this aged barrel, but the barrels that were aged white wine, bourbon whiskey barrels, white oak barrels, and barrel-aged rice shochu "Mellow Kozuru" were stored. It is said that it is aged in American white oak barrels.
Since various attempts have been made, I'm looking forward to seeing what kind of whiskey will come out in 3 years, 5 years, 10 years and so on.
THE MELLOW BAR
After all, one of the main ones here is the bar called "THE MELLOW BAR" that I was allowed to taste.
Landscape Products was in charge of designing the Kosho Distillery.
I'm doing something like Play Mountain, Tas Yard, and BE A GOOD NEIGHBOR.
Everything seems to have been done by the fact that Landscape Products is from the same Kagoshima prefecture.
This bar is amazing again.
A chair designed for the Kosho Distillery on a herringbone floor, a single-plate counter that is over 10m long.
This chair is a custom-made lounge chair designed and produced by Landscape Products exclusively for Kosho Brewery. (The craftsman taught me)
This is a prototype. The model of the chair that was actually made is now complete ...
For this design. (I'm sorry. I forgot to take it from the front)
This chair is very comfortable to sit on again.
The dunes and the sea seen through the large windows were the best.
The interior that uses a lot of wood only for the whiskey distillery, such as the ceiling and floor, is the best.
I want to imitate this. The sofa seating table has a slightly mid-century atmosphere, and it has a slightly retro feel and a modern feel.
And BGM comes from the record player
The photo may not convey it, but the atmosphere is ◎
The delicious sake that the craftsmen drink while explaining the difference, the comfortable chairs, and the sea that you can see from the window. You can stay for hours.
The counter right after entering. A space where the person in charge usually comes.
This counter also uses the wood used for whiskey barrels and the copper plate used for pot stills. There is a particular story and everything has a story.
The desk light that looks like Louis Poulsen is also fashionable.
It seems that the copper plate will also age over time.
The clay walls are also hand-painted by plasterers. It's nice to sprinkle a simple dried flower on it.
Alcohol, location, interior, atmosphere (comfort) are all ◎
There was a talk that it might be open as an ordinary bar in the future. If you live nearby, I would like to go there about 3 times a week.
As expected, the building, interior, and overall space were pretty good. It's designed in total, so it's fashionable no matter where you cut it.
I went to visit several distilleries, but I think there aren't many places in Japan that are so modern and well-designed, let alone whiskey making.
The other distilleries are not originally designed to be shown to general consumers, so there is a strong aspect of visiting them, but the Kosho Distillery is a passionate craftsman who is currently making whiskey. It was a distillery where I could feel the attitude of "let's make (grow) whiskey together with our customers".
Kagoshima has a lot of delicious food (conveyor belt sushi and black pigs are too high level), and Sakurajima is a fun place for many days with an active volcano that is rare in Japan.
(Shooted from a distance. Sakurajima, which is said to resemble the Vesuvius volcano in Naples, Italy.)
Even if you don't usually drink whiskey, if you are interested in design and architecture, Kosho Brewery is definitely fun. From any direction, I think it starts with being interested in knowing the existence of such a distillery.
It may be a distillery that is not so well known now, but check it out.
I would like to introduce more and more such manufacturing that craftsmen are making with great care from the viewpoint of Albitro.
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The other day, I wanted a coffee cup for the shop, so I went to buy Yachimun from Okinawa.
Depart from Haneda on a flight around 8 o'clock and arrive at Naha Airport before 11 ...
