Yokaichi Kome

The aroma is light, dominated by pear, melon, candy green apple, and rice, with a subtle minerality; it's slightly reminicent of a Marlborough Sauvignon Blanc. The palette is light (unsurprising with the low proof), and represents a slight departure from nose. The same fruit notes present themselves, but take the backseat to freshly steamed rice with a slight brininess, undertoned by subtle lemon peels. In the finish, those peels take the forefront alongside the fresh rice, but fade away quickly to a very subtle, barely noticable sweet pear. Delicious neat, and I suspect would be lovely in the other traditional shochu drinking methods, though I haven't tried them. At this price (I paid $18 with a free membership), I highly recommend.