Nankai Gold

Name: Nankai Gold
Brand: Nankai Shochu

Price

$$$$

Availability

7 states

Order size

1+ cases

12 bottles per case

An exceptional blend of the finest matured and cask-aged kokuto, or black sugar, shochus from Nankai's distillery on Amami Island, Japan. Each shochu in the blend is single-distilled from black sugar (80%) and rice (20%), part of it by vacuum distillation, and aged up to 5 years in American white oak and French Limousin casks before blending. At 43% ABV it is made for fans of Japanese whisky: enjoy it neat or on the rocks with a single large cube, or in an Old Fashioned or highball.

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Spirit: Shochu
ABV: 43%
Origin: Los Angeles, CA
Made by: Nankai Shochu

Where to order

Carried by a distributor in California.

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About Nankai Shochu

Nankai Shochu

Los Angeles, CA

Est. 2017

Nankai Shochu is a Los Angeles company bringing honkaku (genuine) Japanese shochu to a new U.S. audience. Nankai means "South Sea," an homage to Amami Island in southwestern Japan, home of kokuto, or black sugar, shochu: a koji-fermented spirit single-distilled from unrefined island sugarcane and rice.

The flagship Nankai Shochu is vacuum-distilled for a clean, fragrant, easy-drinking spirit at 24% ABV, with no sugar, carbs, gluten or additives. The line has grown to include cask-finished White Oak and the 43% ABV Nankai Gold, plus the Nankai Selection: spirits handpicked from other small Japanese distillers, starting with an imo shochu and a kokuto rum from Ibusuki, Kagoshima.

Nankai's motto has always been to sell only what they like to drink. Their shochu has earned a Master medal at The Spirits Business Spirits Masters Asia, Double Gold at the San Francisco World Spirits Competition, and a place on the VinePair 50.

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The Founder's Note

Paul and Mai Nakayama went on their honeymoon in the spring of 2015 to Amami, Japan, to visit her parents' hometown. At a local bar they were introduced to a vacuum-distilled black sugar shochu so easy to drink and so delicious that they enjoyed quite a bit of it. The next day they took a 12-hour boat ride to visit the distillery and learn more about their new favorite spirit.

On the plane back to Los Angeles, they couldn't stop thinking about their honeymoon shochu and how much their friends in California would love it, too. They started importing their own brand of kokuto shochu in 2017. Paul, a UC Berkeley Haas graduate, came from startups and product marketing (Amp'd Mobile, Clearwire, magicJack); Mai is a serial entrepreneur with businesses in Fukuoka and Los Angeles.

Later, a train stop from where Mai's parents lived in Ibusuki, Kagoshima, Mai visited Ooyama Jinhichi Shoten, a small but legendary shochu distillery, and fell in love with both its shochu and its experiments with other spirits. Nankai began importing their spirits in 2024.

How It's Made

Honkaku shochu is koji-fermented and single-distilled once through a pot still, so it keeps the flavor and aroma of its source ingredients. Nankai's kokuto shochus are made on Amami Island by their partner, Machida Distillery, from four natural ingredients: kokuto sugarcane (80%), rice (20%), koji and water.

The flagship is vacuum-distilled: low pressure lowers alcohol's boiling point from about 173°F to roughly 113°F, which is gentler on the mash and produces a cleaner, more refined spirit. White Oak and Gold are finished for up to five years in American white oak and French Limousin casks on Amami.

The Nankai Selection comes from Ooyama Jinhichi Shoten in Ibusuki, Kagoshima, making shochu since 1875. Its imo shochu is fermented with black koji in 150-year-old enameled clay vessels and single-distilled in steam-heated stills; its kokuto rum is double-distilled in small batches on a copper pot still.

Tasting Notes

Remarkable layers of fruit, floral and malty aromas with gentle notes of raisins, chocolate and honey. Pale amber, toasty nose; smooth, rich and elegant with spice.

Cocktail Applications

Nankai Gold FashionedRecipe
- 2 oz Nankai Gold
- 1 tsp sugar (kokuto black sugar recommended)
- 3 dashes Angostura bitters
- Splash of soda water
- Orange peel
Muddle the sugar, bitters and soda in a rocks glass. Add the Nankai Gold and a large ice cube and stir 10 times. Express the orange peel over the drink and garnish.
Amami SazeracRecipe
- 2 oz Nankai Gold
- 0.25 oz absinthe or Herbsaint
- 1 sugar cube
- 0.25 oz fresh lemon juice
- 2-3 dashes aromatic bitters (Peychaud's or Angostura)
- Lemon peel
Chill one glass with ice. In a second glass, muddle the sugar, lemon and bitters, add the Nankai Gold and ice and stir to chill. Discard the ice from the first glass, rinse it with absinthe, add a large cube and strain the drink into it. Express the lemon peel over the top.
Habu's NeckRecipe
- 1.5 oz Nankai Gold
- 0.5 oz pomelo juice
- 4 oz ginger beer
- Long pomelo peel
Combine the Nankai Gold and pomelo juice over ice and stir. Top with ginger beer and garnish with a long pomelo peel. A shochu buck adapted by Gersom Gamez, named for Amami's habu pit viper.
Hana Hana HighballRecipe
- 2 oz Nankai Shochu or Nankai Gold
- 4 oz highly carbonated soda water
- 1/3 lemon
Add 1 oz of Nankai and the soda water to a collins glass over ice. Squeeze in the lemon juice, add the remaining shochu, stir well and serve. This is how many enjoy black sugar shochu on Amami Island; "Hana Hana" is the island toast: a flower for you, and a flower for this moment.