Yamaroku Authentic 4 Year Barrel Aged Premium Japanese Soy Sauce - Shoyu Tsuru Bisiho, Traditional Fermented for Sushi & Cooking, 5 Oz Glass Bottle

I am no pro on soy sauce. thought kikko was the good stuff. was better than la choy and whatever the free caramel colored salt packet take out gives you and get tossed in trash (blecch! though the 20 year old will eat it...but the boy loves ANY salt sooo)welp i am old and don't have sense of smell/ taste i used to. still I think I can differentiate fairly ok still.wanted to have a special night with the wife. do it up right, get the best I could for a sushi night where get the good stuff...just not the insane level prices. so bought the nori, the good gold rice, rice vinegar, sweet pickled ginger, a really cool sushi maker set, good sesame oil and toasted seeds oh and good washabi paste. did a lot of research read tons of reviews watched videos learned the tips oh even got a excellent rice washer so your rice comes out looking like diamonds if its cooked correctly.was first time trying to do this.i have been to japan and the food was out of this world if you ever ate traditional stuff. still I have no clue what soy sauce they served.In all the research I found a guy on you tube who reviewed like 5 or more soy sauces one go don't remember who though, maybe had wife helping him (cant remember if he was blind folded).I think the bang for the buck since you can probably spend 50 -1000 for some totally insane or actual rich people stuff. so at 25 bucks or so... welp figured it is a once in a lifetime thing try out, might as well experience it.so wife who is generally oblivious could taste it and son loved it ..though hes used to going to better places as well as junk with his buddies.as for me.YES there is NO comparison!!! YES it WAS worth it!!!!It is deep dark thick...SECOND TIME is when son got to taste it ... but i put kikko in one cool Japanese dipping bowl and the insanely good stuff in the other as the kit came with two bowls shaped like leafs.GUESS which one had almost all the sauce left??? yep the kikoman...just tastes like salt.the old man barely got to get some of the crazy elixir! that's alright I hoarded some still in the bottle for myself... ;)it is deep rich aroma and flavor...not tangy like miso if i recall but that soy deepness.ONLY thing BAD ... is NOW I don't want any other soy sauce lol..it ruined me. sadly the bottle of watery salt kikko sits full in fridge mocking me and I sadly dab it on stuff ...meh.So if you think you have taste and sense of smell to notice ...YES it is definitely worth it.there is nothing wrong if you don't. Plenty people just shrug and eat anything because they don't care or can not taste the difference in various foods. so don't order if that's your case.It is in no way a placebo effect.The stuff is a great soy sauce and gives me a feeling of being in japan and its unparalleled tastes.its like balsamic vinaigrette...the real stuff again thick and deep vs sour sugar water cheap stuff. There is a reason why napoleon era guys would raid for casks of that! lolI got mine in end of march 2023. it comes in a little very thick glass bottle was wrapped in bubble wrap.the pour top would be nice if it was easier to control..(its not as bad some those kiko dispensers) the snap closable spout is stout and made to POUR it out. so OK to put in a dip bowl, directly dribbling onto food better be careful lol unless your budget is good...that stuff is black gold in taste and matching in price.final notes of advice I would add:is if your making a dish where you can actually taste it and you dribble at end.Like ill put it on pork after its basically done.use decent quality ingredients or the sauce is likely wasted.REMEMBER this isn't for cooking really, if your just trying to give some dish some slightly exotic salt flavor or your not rich just use kiko level stuff. like why crack a 300 buck bottle of Champaign to use as cooking wine.welp hope this helps someone!If people got suggestions on a on par sauce that's cheaper OR better one for same I would love to see people name them.not reviewers that just say 'egh i've tasted better" if you cant name it so we can see what you like or compare it to...then the review is useless.cheers everyone! good eating and live a little!

Rich, thick soy sauce with a very dark color. The sauce is less salty than the popular brand, but still has a strong soy-sauce flavor to complement whatever you're cooking, use sparingly please or the dish will quickly turn too bitter. I used this on some pork with orange, and it came out really nice It will darken sauces if you cook with this. If you sprinkle a little bit of this on top of finished food, it stays put and looks nice on the plate.

I watched a short documentary on YouTube about the Japanese tradition of barrel aging soy sauces and hunted this product down based on that. I sure am glad I did. This particular soy sauce is barrel aged for four years and the quality shines through, especially when mixed with other ingredients. The taste is complex (super umami) and not too salty. I tried to reserve this sauce for only special occasions, but I still used it way faster than I have ever used any other soy sauce in my kitchen. Yes it's very expensive, but in my humble opinion well worth it. I tasted a few drops in a spoon when I first got it and wasn't overwhelmed. However, the first time I made a simple dipping sauce with it that included sesame oil, ginger, garlic, green onion, fish sauce, sambal, and rice vinegar I was blown away by it's elevated quality. If you're a confirmed foodie like myself, and furthermore love everything Asian cuisine related, you owe it to yourself to try this at least once. Be careful though, it's super addictive. I'll never be without a bottle of this soy sauce in my kitchen as long as they keep making it and I am able to cook. Great product!

i cant stand American soy sauce, it has a fake taste. this soy is delicious and perfect for sushi. just a tiny dab goes along way. definitely worth the money

WOW what a Flavor This is some Quality SOY.best mixed with Kikkoman, this way You get all the VEGAN SOY Flavor

The best soy sauce out there. Use very gingerly. It doesn’t take much. Tastes amazing.

Tasted it against cheap kikomon which is a great cooking soysauce and a mid range fancier Japanese finishing soy sauce. This has a much more aromatic smell, was less salty then both, smoother flavor that didn’t have as much sharpness, about same thickness, darker color then the other two, flavor was a bit more complex but not by much (was better rounded in terms of flavor), and has that umami effect.Overall it’s a good soy sauce but I can’t really say it’s worth the price. It’s a step up yes, but not such a step up that i would say you need it.But that said i so far have only used it with calirose rice and grilled finished pork belly. Did well with both compared to other soy sauces. So this is just my preliminary findings and views

Watched a video online of the process of making this and thought I'd give a try, actually purchased several different times now, and I was not disappointed.Very notable flavor difference between this and "store bought" and not overly salty tasting like some can be.Treat yourself or a friend, you won't be dissatisfied.