Nishi Shuzo's "Tenshi no Yuwaku" attracts the world! Winner of Special Award "Best of the Best" & "Highest Gold Award

Tokyo Whiskey & Spirits Competition 2025" Reached the Top of the Sweet Potato Shochu Category! Hozan Tamakane was also awarded the "Highest Gold Prize"! Innovative sweetpotato shochu with a captivating aroma

2025.05.20 14:30

Nishi Shuzo

Nishi Shuzo (Location: Hioki-shi, Kagoshima Prefecture, Representative Director: Yoichiro Nishi) was awarded the highest gold medal in the Shochu category at the Tokyo Whiskey & Spirits Competition 2025 (TWSC 2025) for "Hozan Josen Tamakane" and "Tenshi no Yuwaku". Furthermore, "Tenshi no Yuwaku" was awarded the "Best of the Best," the highest award of the TWSC!

Nishi Shuzo's "Tenshi no Yuwaku" and "THozan Josen Tamakane" were awarded the highest gold medal in the TWSC 2025 Imojochu category, one of Asia's largest shochu competitions in terms of the number of entries! Furthermore, "Tenshi no Yuwaku" won the "Best of the Best" award, the highest award given by the TWSC.

We are very honored to receive such an award, and we would like to express our deepest gratitude to all those involved in the production and sales of our products, from raw materials to production, as well as to all of our loyal customers. We will continue to strive for further quality improvement as a brewer of delicious sake nurtured by the region's climate and history, and will continue to take on the challenge of setting a global standard.

最高金賞・ベスト・オブ・ザ・ベスト受賞

Gold Medal and Best of the Best Award

Nishi Shuzo Hozan official website URL: https://www.nishi-shuzo.co.jp/houzan/

What are TWSC "Highest Gold Award" and "Best of the Best"?

What is the Superior Gold Award?

The Superior Gold Award is a prestigious award given to the product with the highest score in each category of the TWSC. It is a proof of superiority in taste, aroma, and perfection in a rigorous blind tasting process.

About BEST OF THE BEST

The Best of the Best is the highest award in the TWSC, and is given to the item with the highest score in the blind secondary judging.

The highest scoring item will be awarded the highest award in the TWSC.

The "Highest Gold Award" in the Shochu and Awamori category of TWSC2025

TWSC2025 Shochu category -potato - "BEST OF THE BEST" award

天使の誘惑、最高金賞・ベスト・オブ・ザ・ベスト受賞

Tenshi no Yuwaku won the Highest Gold Award and Best of the Best.

Japan's first shochu stored in barrels.

After years of trial and error, the Nishi Shuzo brewery has broken the common belief that sweetpotato shochu is not suitable for long-term aging, and has completed the first long-stored sweetpotato shochu.

The sweet aroma and smooth, sweet taste of this sweetpotato shochu, which has been aged for 10 years in sherry casks, are the result of many years of trial and error. It is Nishi Shuzo's most popular long-selling product. It is highly acclaimed both in Japan and abroad as a one-of-a-kind product that combines the depth and gorgeousness of long-term aging, and we consider the "BEST OF THE BEST" award to be proof that its quality and artistry have been recognized once again.

Alcohol content: 40%.

Ingredients／Satsuma sweet potato (Kogane Sengan from Kagoshima Prefecture), rice malt (domestic rice)

Content / 720ml

Comments from the judges

It has a good balance of aroma and taste with a long aftertaste. The sweetness remains until the end.

Floral and fruity aroma. It has a floral and fruity aroma with a hint of vanilla.

It has a sweet aroma like vanilla from the barrels, and the aroma from the sweetpotato is mild.

The aroma from the sweet potato is gentle and easy to drink for beginners.

Winner of the "Highest Gold Award" in the shochu and awamori category at TWSC 2025

蒸撰玉茜、最高金賞受賞

Hozan Josen Tamakane won the highest gold medal.

This potato shochu is brewed using luxurious "Tamaakane" sweet potatoes known as a rare variety with orange-colored pulp.

The elegant aroma, reminiscent of black tea, is overlaid with rich sweet aromas of mango and passion fruit. The palate is round and crisp, with a pleasantly gorgeous aftertaste, making it a highly aromatic and refined bottle.

Nishi Shuzo's traditional production methods and unique techniques are used to bring out the best in this rare ingredient, Tamaakane, making it a "fragrant distilled spirit" that transcends the boundaries of shochu and is a perfect choice for a special occasion.

Alcohol / 25%.

Ingredients／Satsuma sweet potato (Kagoshima Tamakane), rice malt (white/domestic rice malt)

Content / 1800ml, 720ml

Comments from the judges

It has a delicious sweetness and astringency in harmony.

It has a harmonious sweetness and astringency. It is good with water in a wine glass and as a main dish with Japanese food.

It is an elegant and enjoyable shochu. The balance between the aroma of tea and the mild sweetness of sweet potatoes is excellent. It can be served with soda or milk.

What is TWSC (Tokyo Whiskey & Spirits Competition)?

TWSC (Tokyo Whiskey & Spirits Competition) is the only competition in Japan that judges the world's whiskeys and spirits with the delicate taste of Japanese people. The excellent products in each category are selected through rigorous blind tasting judging by distillers, sommeliers, bartenders, and experts in the spirits industry in Japan and abroad.

TWSC website: https://tokyowhiskyspiritscompetition.jp/

【About Nishi Shuzo Co.】

Nishi Shuzo is a brewery that has been making sake for three centuries since its establishment in 1845, supported by the richness of the land of Satsuma. Brewing nature's bounty into delicious sake with the help of the fermentation power of these tiny, invisible lives. In all of our sake brewing, this desire remains unchanged.

焼酎蔵