
AWARD : SHOCHU
NOMA NOMA Mugi
A 25% honkaku barley shochu released by Shirakane Distillery in 2024.
Honkaku mugi shochu
Specifications
- Ingredient
- Australian and Japanese barley / barley koji
- Country
- Japan
- Region
- Aira, Kagoshima
- ABV
- 25%
- Volume
- 900 / 1800 ml

A new barley shochu from a house best known for sweet-potato shochu. NOMA NOMA blends a base made from Australian and Japanese barley with a component using Aira-grown naked barley, adding a local grain thread to a deliberately contemporary release.
A barley line from an imo-shochu house
Released in March 2024, NOMA NOMA is a new barley-shochu line from Shirakane Distillery. Its main materials are Australian and Japanese barley, while part of the blend uses a spirit made from naked barley grown in Aira.
Fragrant yeast and a grain-led finish
A ginjo-yeast base spirit is blended with a component made from locally grown naked barley, balancing fragrant lift with deeper grain character.
Where barley and yeast meet the table
NOMA NOMA blends a ginjo-yeast base spirit with a naked-barley spirit from Aira. The pairings below are not an official combination presented by the producer; they are a reading drawn from the recorded characteristics of aromatic lightness and toasted grain.
Logical Pairing frames shochu as a spirit with little taste of its own, one that pairs well with strongly spiced dishes without competing against them. Food Pairing (ingredient data) also groups roasted barley malt with toasted and citrus-adjacent aromas, a useful reference point for a barley-led match.
Aira, Kagoshima — Shirakane Distillery
Shirakane Distillery was founded in 1869 in Aira, Kagoshima. Its stone warehouse is a registered tangible cultural property, and the house continues to make shochu there with a method that begins by hand-trimming sweet potatoes.
For current-lot specifications, availability, storage requirements and trade terms, please contact Bacchus Global.
