| Summary: | <i>Koji</i> is an important starter for rice <i>shochu</i> brewing and influences the rice <i>shochu</i> quality. Consequently, we studied the impacts of <i>koji</i> on the flavor compounds and sensory characteristics of rice <i>shochu</i> using molds <i>Aspergillus kawachii</i> SICC 3.917 (A-K), <i>Aspergillus oryzae</i> SICC 3.79(A-O), <i>Aspergillus Niger</i> CICC 2372 (A-N), <i>Rhizopus oryzae</i> CICC 40260 (R-O), and the traditional starter Qu (control). The effects of <i>koji</i> on the aroma components, free amino acids (FAAs), and overall sensory aspects of rice <i>shochu</i> were studied. These findings indicated that <i>koji</i> significantly affected the rice <i>shochu</i>’s quality. The content of total FAAs in rice <i>shochu</i> A-K (30.586 ± 0.944 mg/L) and A-O (29.919 ± 0.278 mg/L) was higher than others. The content of flavor compounds revealed that the aroma of rice <i>shochu</i> with various <i>koji</i> varied greatly from the smells of alcohols and esters. <i>Shochu</i> A-O had a higher concentration of aroma compounds and it exhibited a strong aroma and harmonious taste compared with the others. This research using taste compounds, FAAs, flavor intensity, and partial least squares regression (PLSR) showed that <i>shochu</i> A-O appeared to possess the best sensory qualities, with elevated concentrations of alcohols and sweet FAAs and lesser concentrations of sour FAAs. Therefore, the A-O mold is promising for the manufacture of rice <i>shochu</i> with excellent flavor and sensory characteristics.
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