Suntory

Suntory has a variety of spirits in their portfolio. This summer I played around with three sharing with friends while in Minnesota. All were popular with both the younger kids and us older folk.

Suntory is a reputable company in Japan offering a wide variety of products such as tea, coffee, beer, wine, and spirits including whisky. This summer we enjoyed making drinks with the following: Roku Gin, Kanáde Yuzu, and Haku Vodka. All were fabulous, but the gin was particularly popular.

Roku Gin is made with six Japanese botanicals: sakura flower, sakura leaves, sencha green tea, gyokuro green tea, sansho pepper, and yuzu peel. The hexagonal bottle reflects the six Japanese botanicals. It is also etched with sakura and the other botanicals. Washi paper label is written with 六, roku for six. It’s a delicate gin with floral notes on the beginning and then onto gentle tea and sansho. It doesn’t have the pine notes that many associate with gin. The Roku Gin (47%) was a natural partner with tonic water but also lovely as a mixer with fruit juices and soda water. Roku Gin is produced in Osaka.

Haku Vodka is a clean and crisp spirit. The most versatile for mixing as it is neutral. While it is a 40% spirit it is deceivingly soft and smooth. The name Haku 白 means white and is a natural name for the vodka. It has a round mouthfeel and a hint of sweetness on the finish. Made from 100% polished rice and is filtered with bamboo charcoal. Haku is distilled in Kyushu, the southernmost island in Japan. Kyushu is famous for its distilled spirits, notably shochu, so Haku being made here makes sense.

Kanáde liqueurs comes in four flavors: yuzu, matcha, sakura, and Japanese white peach. Delighted with the yuzu which has notes of the aromatic citrus. It has a gently sweet finish. Loved this mixed with the Haku vodka for a martini. My favorite was a splash of this with soda water.

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