1 hour ago, mkayahara said:Rice whisky? That's fascinating! Did you pick that up in the US, or somehow acquire it from Japan?
It has began showing up in a few places in the US in the last 6-12 months. I have seen it locally and I know K&L in San Francisco had it. The Fukano brand shown above and a brand called Kikori are the two I have seen. I don't know if it has a long history in Japan or is more of a result of the huge increase in interest in whisky in general in Japan. It is a bit different from Shochu, the more traditional distilled spirit that can be made from several different things to include rice, barley and sweet potato.
The sample I tasted was sweet as well but otherwise a bit light and to be honest, bland, so I didn't get a bottle. The blurb about the Fukano on K&L suggests it has been around awhile for use in blending but not bottled for sale as whisky until recently.
Ah, I see you had already responded with some nice links on the next page which I overlooked!