Product Information:
Building upon a rebalancing of the four base botanicals of the drier, flagship Bermutto, Oka Kura's taken on dry vermouth. OKA Sweet Bermutto incorporates a powerful fifth ingredient: a bitter Japanese plum called ume. Ume’s tart astringency is right at home in this bitter botanical blend and is perfectly complemented and balanced by raw cane sugar from Okinawa.
The wine base is Junmai Sake (fermented rice alcohol, not wine). There are five botanicals: Yomogi, yuzu, Kabosu, ume and cane sugar. Yomogi is Japanese wormwood. 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. Ume is a tart Japanese green plum. Lastly it's all sweetened with kokuto (Okinawan cane sugar).
Oka Kura Bermutto is a uniquely Japanese take on the category of vermouth made from aromatized, shochu-fortified sake. While not technically a vermouth because it is not wine-based, it functions in cocktails as a vermouth should—a botanically-infused, low ABV modifier—and generally bridges a gap between sake, shochu, and vermouth.
Maker:
Founded by Yuno Hayashi and named for her grandfather, OKA BRAND offers a growing range of distinctly Japanese spirits and liqueurs made from local rice spirits, Junmai sake, and hyper-regional botanicals. Each expression provides not only endless drinking possibilities, but a gateway to Japanese flavours and traditions.
Distillery:
OKA BRAND spirits and liqueurs are produced by the legendary Tsutsumi Distillery in the Kumamoto Prefecture in Kyushu, Japan. Tsutsumi has been producing shochu for nearly 150 years in the Hitoyoshi Basin just 5 km from the Kuma River, the longest river in Kyushu. It is one of only 28 distilleries certified by the World Trade Organization as a Kuma Shochu producer, a designation similar to the protected designations of origin of Scotch, tequila, and Cognac. The Kuma River is renowned for its reputation as the clearest stream in Japan, lending itself to crafting fine sake and shochu, all from rice grown within the Kuma River system.
Influenced by the fortified, aromatized wine producers of Europe while drawing on Japanese tradition, OKA BRAND took the cocktail world by storm with the introduction of their flagship expression, Bermutto. A yuzu liqueur and sweet, ume-based formulation of Bermutto followed, and now with the introduction of rice-based vodkas and gin, OKA offers an even wider range of exceptional products for use in cocktails by the world’s most discerning bartenders and mixologists.
Nose - Yeast, Tropical Fruits, Lavendar
Unmistakably plummy, evocative of of umeshu and sloe gin with sour cherry, orange peel, and brown sugar.
Palate - Rice, Faint Plum, Piquant Peppers
On the palate, oolong tea, tart cherry, grapefruit zest, plum.
Finish - Yuzu, Grapefruit, Pleasant Bitters
Caramel, plum, marzipan, faint sake, lemon, orange
The Finer Details
Style - Sake Vermouth
Country - Japan
Bottle Size - 720ml
ABV - 18%
