"Oka Kura is Junmai sake based, aromatized with four unique Japanese botanicals, and fortified with shochu. It is produced in Kumamoto, Japan, at the Tsutsumi Distillery. Oka Kura has a medium-light body with a round mouthfeel provided by the sake. You can very clearly taste the rice, yeast, yuzu, wormwood, and sansho. The combination of yuzu and yomogi creates a strong grapefruit backbone that dominates the palate beginning to end.
Cracking the seal unleashes a wave of yeasty citrus. It pours a kind of cloudy, straw-yellow color with some sediment (which goes unnoticed on the palate). I tasted it at room temperature to start, then again when chilled a few hours later.
"Oka Kura Bermutto is a uniquely Japanese take on the category of vermouth made from aromatised, shochu-fortified sake. Technically it's not a vermouth because it is not wine-based, but it works in cocktails as a vermouth should—as a botanically-infusing, low ABV modifier— that bridges a gap between sake, shochu, and vermouth.
Oka Kura Bermutto is essentially a dry vermouth. There are four botanicals used in the production of Oka Kura: Yuzu, Kabosu, Sansho peppercorn, and Yomogi. Yuzu is an acidic aromatic citrus as acidic as a lemon with a flavour that's reminiscent to lemon, grapefruit, and Mandarin orange. Kabosu is a very high-acid citrus profile and flavour similar to yuzu and lime. Sansho peppercorn is a peppery and slightly citrusy peppercorn that's relative Sichuan peppercorn only it produces are milder, numbing sensation on the palate. Lastly there's Yomogi – A Japanese wormwood, also known as Japanese mugwort." - Tsutsumi
