Tsunematsu Shuzo Honten Selection

FLAGSHIP PRODUCTS

KU MA SHOCHU - WORLD -RENOW NED PREMIUM SPIRIT

Tsunematsu Shuzo Honten
恒松酒造本店

An unﬁltered & fruity
sweet potato shochu

Rich, luxurious ﬂavor
thanks to double the koji

Refreshing taste with aginjo-like lightness

TESSHOKUMAKEN

KANATAA sweet potato shochu that you can drink
all night long. Made with hand-selected sweet
potatoes and bottled unfiltered. Characterized
by a gentle, deep sweetness and a fruity
aroma.

Reproduction of traditional Kuma Shochu
made with yellow koji. Rich deep flavor
from double the normal amount of koji andlow-temperature fermentation with yellow
koji and yeast. Unfiltered so you can enjoy
the lustrous ginjo aroma to its fullest.

Pursuing drinkability, achieves a light taste
like ginjo sake. Clean, no-nonsense taste andrefreshing aroma allows you to savor thesensation of shochu spreading throughout
your body.

Ingredients: sweet potato, rice koji
ABV: 25%
Distillation method: vacuum

Tsunematsu Shuzo Honten
THE HISTORY OFKUMA SHOCHU■ 1022 Taragi, Taragi, Kuma-gun, Kumamoto Prefecture■ Tel: 0966-42-2381■ http://tsunematsu-shuzo.com

Kuma Shochu: Born from the History,
Climate & Culture of Hitoyoshi-Kuma

Abundant Water & Unique Climate
The Kuma Valley is located at the southernmost tip of Kumamoto Prefecture,
deep in the mountains of Kyushu. The
cool waters of the Kuma River—famed for
its rapids—nourish the fields, while thevalley's distinctive climate and significant
temperature variations create one of theprefecture's prime rice-growing areas. The
frequent dense fog in the region allows
for fermentation and storage at relatively
low temperatures, which helps give Kuma

WHAT ISKUMA SHOCHU?

Ingredients: rice, rice koji
ABV: 21%
Distillation method: vacuum

Ingredients: rice koji, rice
ABV: 25%
Distillation method: vacuum

Shochu its refreshing aroma. The soft
water from the Kuma River system is ideal
for shochu making and helps enhance
the gentle sweetness of the rice. The richaroma and deep flavor of Kuma Shochu
can only be produced in the HitoyoshiKuma region.

Tradition & Evolution

Rice shochu production in the Hitoyoshi-Kuma region is believed to havestarted about 500 years ago. Distillation

techniques were supposedly brought overthrough trade with southeast and continental Asia. Today, 27 distilleries preserve
the traditional techniques honed by theirpredecessors, offering a variety of flavorsthat have evolved over time.
In 1995, Kuma Shochu was designatedas a Geographical Indication by theNational Tax Agency, establishing it as aworld-class shochu brand and attracting
attention from around the globe.

■ Must be made with rice (including rice koji) grown in Japan■ Mash must be made with Hitoyoshi-Kuma water and shochu must be distilled in a pot still and bottled in Hitoyoshi-Kuma.

You must be �� or older to drink. Do not drink and drive.
Drinking alcohol during pregnancy and breastfeeding may aﬀect the development of the fetus or infant.
Drink in moderation. Please recycle.

Upper left: Using house-grown rice and water from100m underground.
Upper right: 90% of their products are vacuum-distilled.
They are aged for a year in steel tanks.
Left: Tsunematsu currently grows their own sweet
potatoes for sweet potato shochu.
Right: Fifth-generation owner Yoshitaka Tsunematsu, theman behind the hit products Konoka and Tessho.

■ TSUNEMATSU SHUZO HONTEN (Taragi) ■Dedicated to shochu and growing theirown rice for over a century■ HISTORY

Continuing to explore new methods

Tsunematsu was founded in 1917.
Although young compared to some ofthe other Kuma Shochu distilleries, thisdistillery still has a 100+ year history.
Chotaro Tsunematsu, the first owner ofthe distillery, was a wealthy farmer whoowned about a third of the farming spacein the town of Taragi. He supposedly began
making rice shochu as a way to utilize theextra rice he couldn't fit in his storehouse.
At that time, Tsunematsu only offered their

Tsuruha brand of shochu, named after theneighborhood where the distillery was. The
name, meaning "crane's wing," supposedly comes from the scores of cranes that migrated to the area's rice fields in the winter.
There is also a story that a family helped
a weakened crane and subsequently theirbusiness succeeded, and some believe thisto be the story of Tsunematsu.
Due to post-WWII rice shortages,
Tsunematsu switched to potato shochu,
and in the late 1970s, they installed vacuum-distillation equipment. About 95% of

Tsunematsu's current products are vacuum-distilled, and to satisfy customers who
prefer more traditional rice shochu, they
continue to make atmospheric-distilled
products. Tsunematsu also makes barleyshochu, umeshu, and liqueur, and areenthusiastic about experimenting withdifferent koji and yeast combinations
and different production methods to find
new flavors. As a result, they have won
numerous awards, both domestically andinternationally.

A brick chimney
towers overthe distillery.
Tsunematsu used
coal to heat itsstills until around1985.
Left: Konoka aging in sherry casks.
Right: Label for Tsuruha, based on the original
bottle design■ ABOUT US

Environmentally minded
Surrounded by rice paddies, Tsunematsu
Shuzo Honten continues to make shochu.
Tsunematsu values the rice and waterthat make up their shochu, as well as thenatural environment that nurtures them.
Although most of the land they owned
was relinquished in post-WWII reforms,
Tsunematsu still farms 3 hectares of ricepaddies. In 2020, Tsunematsu built a compost facility in order to make compost fromrice husks and shochu production waste
liquid to use on their rice fields. This riceis then used to make shochu, the wasteof which again gets turned into compost.
This beneficial cycle helps preserve theregion's natural environment. Tsunematsu
began growing their own potatoes in2022. Although it would be cheaper to buy
potatoes, they believe in local ingredients,
and want the assurance that they are using
quality ingredients in their shochu.
Their dedication to shochu and theunwavering quality of their products
have earned them many fans. They havereleased a series of hit products, including
Kumaken (made with a double quantity ofkoji), Kanata, Konoka, and Tessho. Their
Tsuruha shochu has been around since thebeginning and still has many fans.

Kumaken is aflavorful masterpiece
fermented at low
temperatures withyellow koji andyeast. To preserve
the umami of therice and koji, they
manually remove
excess oils insteadof using machine
filtration.

Tsunematsu Shuzo Honten works to preserve thelocal environment. At their compost facility, theyferment a mixture of rice husks and shochu waste
liquid, and use the resulting compost on their ricefields.