In addition to the citrus profile of Dry Bermutto, Sweet Bermutto contains ume, a bitter and astringent Japanese plum used in a wide variety of culinary and alcoholic applications throughout Japan, and is sweetened with raw cane sugar from Okinawa Richer and more robust than the drier, flagship Bermutto with aromas of stewed cherry, orange peel, brown sugar, and wood spice; the palate is bright and acidic with the kabosu and yomogi notably dialed up, lending notes of black tea, tart cherry, and citrus zest.
The ume is prominent throughout, providing subtle marzipan and oxidized fruit notes with an acidity similar to umeshu Papanese plum liqueur). Oka Kura Sweet Bermutto is right at home in a wide variety of cocktail applications-from spritzes and highballs to cocktails calling for sweet vermouth, quinquina, or americano.
Produced at the legendary Tsutsumi Shuzo, which has been producing shochu in the Kumamoto Prefecture in Kyushu, Japan, for nearly 150 years, Oka Kura Bermutto is an aromatized sake fortified with shochu. Bermutto, a Japanese phonetic spelling of vermouth, is a uniquely Japanese interpretation of the classic fortified wine.
The parallels are obvious- both begin with a low- proof, fermented alcoholic beverage which is then bittered with wormwood, flavored with citrus and herbs, and finally fortified with a distillate. But while vermouth is built around a base of wine and typically fortified with a neutral distillate, Oka Kura Bermutto is made from Junmai sake and fortified with 100% rice shochu.
