"Kevin Gowen" <kgowenNOSPAM@myfastmail.com> wrote in message
news:2tr1gtF22rpdiU6@uni-berlin.de...
> Ryan Ginstrom wrote:
> > I am learning to become a connoisseur of awamori.
>
> Can you recommend some good brands? I had some when I was in Nago on
> vacation but I can't say I cottoned much to it. I think it was the brand
> rather than awamori in general that I did not like.

Awamori has a distinctive "kuse" that kind of makes it an acquired taste.

A lot of newcomes to awamori like Jinpuu [仁風], because it is very smooth.
I think it is a bit of a sissy awamori, and besides not too high in quality,
being aged only a year or two. However, a lot of naichaa's like it.

My current favorite is Kikunotsuyu [菊乃露] VIP (aged 7 years).

Another decent one is Chatan Chourou [北谷長老], white or brown (aged 5-7
years).

Reiko's relatives in Yaeyama like Yaesen [八重泉] 43-do. This one has an
almost whiskey-like quality to it.

Another very popular brand with the ojisan crowd is Chuukou [忠孝]. Brown
and kuusu [古酒] are nice.

Kura [くら] is not bad.

Zampa [残波] (Zampa Misaki is incidentally about 1km from my house) is
popular with the younger kids, but in my opinion this is a shit awamori. I
hear it was much better before it got popular, and the distillery started
cutting corners.

-- 
Regards,
Ryan Ginstrom
ryang@gol.com