A new era in shochu!
SS.L, a new brand that anticipates bar demand.
<Part 1>

Shochu is a world-class Japanese spirit.SS.L, a new star in the shochu world, shows unique manufacturing with an eye on bar use and overseas markets.

writer：Ryoko Kuraishi

Naoya Honbo, brand director.

A new generation of spirits, innovative in both content and packaging.

Satsuma Shuzo is a long-established shochu brewery known for its authentic potato shochu Satsuma Shiranami.

While continuing the traditional shochu culture of Southern Kyushu, the company wanted to start brewing a new type of shochu that would overturn the traditional image of shochu.

Therefore, they created a completely new shochu brand, SS.L (Satsuma Shuzo.Labo), based on the concept of 'challenging the possibilities of monozukuri'.This was in May this year.

The driving force behind SS.L is Naoya Hombo, who serves as brand director.

After working for an advertising agency in Tokyo, he joined Satsuma Sake Brewery in 2017.Since then, he has been involved in branding and product development, making full use of the personal connections he developed during his time at the agency.

SS.L" is filled with Honbo's thoughts.

SS.L_01 has a beautiful amber colour.To pursue the taste, we dared to choose a liqueur spec instead of a spirit.

The brand's origins lie in the existence of fascinating samples that were lying dormant in the company's development section, as if they represented the history of a traditional brewery.

For example, samples of sake that had been stored in various types of casks to bring out their aromas, which were never released to the world but were too good to leave lying around.

The idea of creating a completely new sake, which had never been available anywhere else in the market, was born from these samples.

Furthermore, the interaction with Japan's top bartenders was one of the triggers for the launch of 'SS.L'.

'In 2020, Satsuma Shuzo was involved in 'The SG Shochu Project' and worked on 'IMO'.

I think the communication we had with Mr Gokan and the SG Group at that time has come to life in the creation of this product.

This is because I felt that the cocktails we were served at The SG Club overwhelmingly expanded the possibilities of the products we created.

I realised how interesting it is to have the world beyond the manufacturing site expanded by professionals in that world, and I wanted to work on products that can be used in that way."

From the production process of SS.L_01.The idea of smoking tea leaves (left) came from Mr. Tsezaki, the fourth generation owner of Makurazaki-based bonito flakes shop Kinshichi Shoten.On the right, tea leaves are steeped in barley shochu stored in barrels.Only minimal filtration is used to capture the complex aroma and flavour in the bottle.

The pursuit of 'yet-to-be-seen sake' and 'local character'.

L, the company places importance on the criteria of being 'unique' and 'local', as well as being good as a sake.

SS.L _01 and SS.L _02, the first two released in May this year, were developed with the cooperation of local dried bonito shop Kinshichi Shoten.

SS.L _01 is made by smoking first-grade tea leaves from Makurazaki and macerating them in barley shochu stored in a barrel.

This liqueur has a smoky taste with the sweetness, flavour and fragrance of tea, and a complex layering of barrel aromas.It also goes well with sweets.

We have made it a liqueur because it exceeds the colouring regulations for spirits and the high alcohol content gives it a pungent taste."

In the production of SS.L_02, the sweet potato (Kogane Sengan) is being heated in the katsuobushi (dried bonito flakes) quenching chamber (room for smoking dried bonito flakes).The heating was carried out while repeatedly checking the condition of the dried bonito to ensure that the moisture was not lost.

02" is a product that focuses on dried bonito flakes to express Makurazaki-ness.

Makurazaki is a major producer of dried bonito flakes, the largest in Japan.We thought we could work with a local product and propose something new, so we researched shochu with dashi broth, but it didn't work out.

We tried researching the use of dashi in shochu, but it didn't work out.

The raw material, sweet potatoes (Kogane Sengan), are heated in a rapid-fire oven where dried bonito flakes are smoked.Fermentation and distillation after a certain amount of water has been removed gives it a smoky flavour similar to mezcal.

In both cases, the simple idea of creating something that had never been done before, and collaborating with local products, was given form through trial and error in each process.

Russian oak barrels built for SS.L_03.Hats off to the long-established resource of having new barrels hand-built by specialist craftsmen!

SS.L _03 is Satsuma Sake Brewery's first attempt at a brew using sweet potatoes (eimurasaki).

When they licked the mash of Eimurasaki, they realised the potential of its gorgeous aroma, which is completely different from that of Kogane Sengan, so they decided to press it instead of distilling it to make the most of its aroma.

In the production of 03, a barrel craftsman made an original barrel (!) for 03 in Russian oak.The barrels were handmade in Russian oak by our own barrel makers.The wine was aged in these barrels for about a year.

The '03', matured in these barrels for about a year, has an impressive aroma of red berries, ripe plum nuances, a floral aftertaste reminiscent of violets and a refreshing acidity.It is recommended to be well chilled, poured into a wine glass and served straight.

SS.L _04, a cacao shochu made in collaboration with the chocolatier Palais d'Or, is a unique combination of sweet potato and cacao.

Cacao powder is added to sweetpotato shochu mash and distilled in a single distiller.After maturing in stainless steel tanks for several months, it is finished without adding water.

A new taste and aroma was obtained by brewing sweet potato and cacao, which have some affinity for each other.

It is said to be recommended on the rocks, where the flavour and aroma derived from the cacao can be felt, but it could also be applied to cocktails.


The first gin from Satsuma Brewery was launched in August.
What does the gin taste like ......?

Continued in Part 2.