Acclaimed Japanese bartender Shingo Gokan, the man behind highly awarded bars including Tokyo's SG Club and Shanghai's Sober Company, is back with a newly launched Spiced Rum, the Kokuto de Lequio Yambaru Spiced Rum.

In 2023, Gokan had first debuted his new liqueur brand Kokuto de Lequio, with the first release being a Kokuto Black Sugar Liqueur which had aimed to salvage the stockpiles of Okinawan black sugar that had been unable to be sold as a result of the Covid pandemic. The Kokuto de Lequio further used Okinawan made Awamori as its spirit base, which was also targeted at popularising Okinawa's native spirit that has fallen out of the limelight in recent years. The combination of which was incredibly tasty - we reviewed it here!

Akira Nakazato

This was developed in conjunction with Akira Nakazato of Mizuho Shuzo, the second oldest Awamori distillery in Okinawa, who has himself recently debuted a new brand of Okinawan Single Island rum named OneRum (read more about it here!) And guess who's back to collaborate with Gokan on the new second edition of the Kokuto de Lequio Yambaru Spiced Rum? Nakazato himself!

This time, for its second release, Gokan has in store a Spiced Rum that relates to the theme of Okinawan agriculture. The Shikuwasa fruit is a citrus native to Okinawa, and is also known for being tedious in utilising its seeds and peels after its juice is harvested. Thus rum made from distilled Kokuto black sugar was redistilled with Shikuwasa peel, which is known for its refreshing scent, along with other unique Okinawan botanicals such as getto (Shell Ginger) and pipachi (Long Pepper).

The result is said to be a flavour that evokes the lush subtropical nature of Yambaru's forests in Okinawa.

The new Yambaru Spiced Rum is recommended to be used with tonic or to make a Mojito cocktail, and can be used in both rum and gin based cocktails as well.

The new Yambaru Spiced Rum is currently only available in Japan, but will gradually be released overseas.