Nankai White Oak
Price
$$$$
Availability
7 states
Order size
1+ cases
12 bottles per case
A sophisticated harmony of the finest cask-finished kokuto shochu. Single-distilled from 80% artisanal kokuto sugar and 20% rice in vacuum and atmospheric pot stills, then finished in American and French casks for 3 to 5 years on tropical Amami Island, Japan.
Crafted at 24% ABV for easy sipping and food pairing, with no sugar, carbs, gluten or additives. Enjoy it neat, on the rocks or as a highball, or replace whiskey with White Oak for low-ABV versions of your favorite cocktails.
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A sophisticated harmony of the finest cask-finished kokuto shochu. Single-distilled from 80% artisanal kokuto sugar and 20% rice in vacuum and atmospheric pot stills, then finished in American and French casks for 3 to 5 years on tropical Amami Island, Japan. Crafted at 24% ABV for easy sipping and food pairing, with no sugar, carbs, gluten or additives. Enjoy it neat, on the rocks or as a highball, or replace whiskey with White Oak for low-ABV versions of your favorite cocktails.
Curated by DiscoCraftWe'll make sure your request reaches Nankai Shochu
- Spirit
- Shochu
- ABV
- 24%
- 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.
View brand profile →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
Woody aromas balanced with notes of vanilla, lychee and banana on the palate.
Cocktail Applications
Shiitake Old FashionedRecipe
- 2 oz shiitake-infused Nankai White Oak (1 bottle Nankai White Oak, 2 dried and 2 fresh shiitake mushrooms)
- 0.25 oz kokuto syrup (kokuto sugar simmered with water until dissolved)
- 1 dash candy cap bitters (a handful of candy cap mushrooms infused in 180 ml aromatic bitters)
Infuse the shochu with the shiitake for 2 days and the bitters with the candy caps for 10 to 14 days. Combine the infused White Oak, kokuto syrup and bitters in a mixing glass, add ice and stir to chill. Serve up in a coupe or in a rocks glass over a large cube.
Day BreakRecipe
- 1 oz Nankai Imo Black
- 0.5 oz Nankai White Oak
- 0.5 oz Mommenpop Seville Orange
- 2 dashes FloraLuna smoked salt and pepper bitters
- 0.25 oz banana syrup (banana peels, sugar and hot water, equal parts by weight)
- 3 oz soda water
Combine the shochus, Mommenpop, bitters and banana syrup in a highball glass over ice. Top with soda water, stir to mix well and garnish with a shiso leaf. By bartender Kendra Hada, designed so beer and wine licensed restaurants in California and New York can serve it.
Awards & Recognition
- 2022 San Francisco World Spirits Competition: Double Gold
- 2022 The Spirits Business Asian Spirits Masters: Gold
