Nikaido Shuzo was founded in 1866 in Hiji-machi on the eastern bay of Oita prefecture, Kyushu, as a sake brewery, and has been owned by the Nikaido family for eight generations. The house switched to shochu in 1949, and in the early 1970s sixth-generation president Akira Nikaido developed a way to grow koji entirely on barley, releasing the first 100% mugi shochu in 1974 and creating what is often called Japan's first national shochu brand.

Every Nikaido shochu is made from 100% barley with barley koji and vacuum distilled, a combination the producer says preserves delicate floral aromas and notes of vanilla, toasted coconut and stone fruit. The style is balanced, smooth and clean with a fruity barley heart, bottled at 24% ABV and built for highballs, rocks pours and neat sipping.

The US range covers the original Oita Mugi Shochu in a 900ml bottle, the Dodger Blue label Dodgers Edition celebrating Nikaido's role as the Official Shochu of the Los Angeles Dodgers, and Kitchom, the aged expression bottled in a hand-painted clay tsubo flask. Browse our full Nikaido collection with fast nationwide shipping delivered straight to your door.