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Company Name: Tokuyama
Distillery
Founded: 1948
Address: 1500 Sawada, Irabu Town, Miyako
TEL:09807-8-3006
FAX:09807-8-3050 |
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The rich and sweet aged
awamori, matured in a tank lorry, is the pride of the distillery.
Irabu Island, one of the Miyako Island group, is famous for fisheries
and agriculture. Just like Cuba in the distant Caribbean, where
rum made from sugar cane and cigars are important means of income,
sugar cane and tobacco are the main produce. The Tokuyama Distillery
has been producing distilled liquor from sugar cane since it was
founded. Maybe that explains why the liquor from the Miyako Island
has such sweetness and body.
The Tokuyama Distillery stands in a village of sugar cane fields.
The distinctive scenery of the adjacent Sawada beach includes rocks
lying here and there, and nearby is Shimochi Island, the site of
Japan's only pilot training facility.
The distillery's brand, Honen ('A Year of Rich Harvest')
was named by Tomoaki Tokuyama in 1948 to pray for a rich harvest.
The distillery is a family business. It is now run by the third
generation owner, Tsuyoshi, his wife, Kuniko, and their son, 26-year-old
Kengo, who is training to become a master distiller. There are many
fans of the Honen brand both on Miyako Island and elsewhere.
In the distillery there is a large tank lorry bought from the US
army. This is where the kusu is kept for maturing. The distillery
discovered by chance that the oval-shaped tank was ideal for that
purpose and its distilled liquor has been matured in it ever since.
The kusu has the richness typical of awamori plus
sweetness, providing a gentle taste. |
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