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Company name: Tamanaha Distillery
Founded: End of Meiji era (early 20th Century)
Address: 47 Ishigaki, Ishigaki City
TELFAX:09808-2-3165 |
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In the pursuit of creating
awamori with a traditional flavor, the handmade products,
produced with rigor and determination, have a deep flavor.
This distillery, the oldest in the Yaeyama Islands, is famous for
its Tama no tsuyu brand, a favorite with the most refined
awamori drinkers. It was founded by Yuwa Tamanaha, who broke
off from the mainstream family based in Shuri on the Okinawan mainland
to move to Ishigaki Island at the end of the Meiji era.
Before the war, both distilleries-in Shuri and in Ishigaki-prospered,
but they lost everything during the war. The second generation owner,
Yuko Tamanaha, suddenly died in an accident at the young age of
34 and his widow took over the business, while raising six children
on her own. Yuko's eldest son, Yusho, worked in a life insurance
firm after graduating from university, but returned to the island
to take over the business in 1976. He and his wife are now responsible
for passing on their brand-maintained so desperately by his mother-to
future generations.
Tama no tsuyu is well known for being made entirely by hand;
the rice steamer, koji room and distillation pot are all
handmade. The only electric appliance used in the factory is a fan
with a thermostat used to maintain the temperature of the koji
room. All awamori-makers use the same rice and the same koji
rice, so it is not the ingredients that generate the differences
in the flavor. It is the water quality, the yeast mash and the storing
method that determine the characteristics of each brand. But Yusho
believes that the biggest determining factor is how much heart is
put into the process of awamori-making.
Tama no tsuyu has a strong flavor and the koji rice
is steamed well. Because the liquor is filtered at room temperature,
it does not lose any of the awamori characteristics; it strongly
retains the flavor of the past. The tradition is bound to live on
with the third generation-the children of the couple. We hope that
the old taste will remain intact for many years to come. |
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