We received a bottle of Yamadanishiki Gononosai from Sanchi.
This is the second bottle of Yamadanishiki Gononozo.
When I drank the 2023 Go-No-Mozo, the presence of the wooden vat was almost non-existent, and the taste was only slightly more complex than the two No-No-Mozo. This experience led me to the realization that the taste does not change much even if there are more no-brews, but this must be changed as of today. Even I could clearly sense the difference in this year's Go-No-Brew.
The woody aroma that is typical of wooden vats can be felt from the moment the bottle is opened. The appearance is slightly more yellowish than the Ninonomoto. The base of the flavor is the same as usual, but with the addition of the woody aroma, the taste is more complex and intense than the Ninohbrewery's. To be honest, I have never tasted a pesticide-free, fertilizer-free brew.
I am not confident that I can detect the difference between the two brews.
Looking at the new twelve grades, it seems that the five-six-seven area will have a significant impact on the flavor. Personally, I am most looking forward to the 7th fermentation.
The higher grades are probably more about environmental and cultural revitalization and preservation than taste changes.
Nagano sake continues.
Today we had Numero Anne from Sogapeur Effice.
Numero Anne is a sake brewed with Kyokai No. 1 yeast, a yeast isolated from Sakura Masamune's sake mother in Kyoto during the Meiji era (1868-1912), and distributed by the Brewers Association decades ago. Currently, it is only used by a very small number of breweries, including Obuse Winery, Sakura Masamune, the brewery where it originated, and Kinoshita Sake Brewery, which also brews Tamagawa in Kyoto. The Ilya Thornton [IL Y A 100 ANS] we received last year was a mixed fermentation of No. 1 and No. 2, but this is the first time we have received a single No. 1.
The manufacturer's quality assurance period ended yesterday, and after today, the aroma and taste may become super maniacal. I don't know because I have nothing to compare it with, but I would like to think it was the best timing because it was very tasty.
I wrote the other day that Shinshu Kamerei is a sake that can be enjoyed without hesitation, but I have the impression that Sogapère Ephis is a sake to be savored as if you were checking it out with a sip. The taste is complex and subtle, with a strong umami and acidity typical of sake yeast, and has a depth that allows you to discover something new each time you sip it.
It goes well with Western food, and was a perfect match with carbonara pasta.
We had the first Yamasan. It is Hitogokochi Junmai Ginjyo Usunigori.
Following Shinshu Kamerei, this sake is from Ueda City, Nagano Prefecture.
Like Ginkame, there was only one bottle left in the refrigerator of a liquor store, so I bought it together with Ginkame. At that time, there was another bottle each of Yamasan Yamae-Nishiki Usu-Nigori, San-do no Kako Shi-no-Kozo, and Yamada-Nishiki Go-no-Kozo in the fridge. I couldn't believe my eyes when I found them because they were all sold out at every liquor store at that point. It might have been a kind of cancellation of reservation or release of reserve stock. I wanted to buy all of them because I had been interested in all of them but had missed the timing, but due to the capacity of my refrigerator, I gave up on Yamasan Yamae Nishiki and gratefully bought four bottles.
The first Yamasan was a delicious sake that lived up to the rumors. It showed a lot of energy from the moment the bottle was opened, and the mouthfeel was crisp and gassy. It has a fresh and juicy peachy flavor, with a graininess of rice that only nigori sake can have, and finishes with a sharp bitterness. I like light nigori sakes to begin with, but this one is right in the middle of my favorites.
This is another sake that I found troubling.
Hi Hori 😃
Nice to meet you, Mr. Yamasan and congratulations on your 200 check-in ㊗️㊗️ 🎉.
My middle of the road favorite! The more you drink, the better it comes out 🤗.
We had our first Shinshu Kamerei.
It is a junmai daiginjo of Miyamanishiki, or silver turtle.
It is a rare sake to find, but I was lucky enough to find a bottle left in the refrigerator of my regular liquor store.
When the bottle was opened, it had a fruity ginjo aroma. The aroma is rather mild than floral. The appearance is clear and colorless, with a smooth texture that is not particularly viscous. No bubbles appear.
When you drink it, a gentle sweetness spreads in your mouth as if it is melting away with the acidity. It has a clean, straightforward taste that goes down the throat easily without any unpleasant taste or alcohol. The fruity aroma that lingers in the nose from start to finish is pleasant.
There is a slight bitterness hidden at the end of the sweet aftertaste, but even this is part of the harmony and is a nice accent.
It is not a flashy or impactful type of sake, nor is it particularly unique, but this beautiful flavor, which seems to have been polished to the last detail, is perhaps the charm of Shinshu Kamerei.
It is supposed to be a great sake, but you can enjoy drinking it without thinking about anything difficult. It was an amazing sake that I have never experienced anywhere else.
Good evening, Hori 😃!
Congratulations on your first Shinshu Kamerei at Gin Kame 🎉I would buy it if I found Ras One and forget about the price 🤗It's so good to let it go 😋Scary, isn't it?
Thank you Jay & Nobby for your comments! The price was about the same as two bottles of our usual sake, but we had no regrets at all 😊.
I finally found Shinshu Kamerei, it's great!
We received a bottle of Junmai Ginjo Blue Label from Imi.
It was one of the first bottles I drank last year that was shockingly delicious, and I was lucky enough to have it again this year.
Last year I had the impression that it was a very sweet sake, but this year it was not so sweet and I wondered if my memory was wrong. I thought it was a bit sweet last year, but when the temperature rose a little, it was still sweet.
This year, too, the rich sweetness was combined with sourness and a pineapple-like nuance, while the latter half was bitter, which is right in the middle of my personal tastes.
It is good to drink it cold right after it is stored below freezing, but it seems that you can taste the true flavor of the sake after it is left at room temperature for a little while.
We received a bottle of A-Sakura Junmai Ginjo Yukinofu.
At first glance, the name may sound like it is made from Yukinofu rice, but it is not. The name is derived from the name of the designer who designed this lovely label.
I had purchased this sake in March, but since I drink dozens of bottles in the order of purchase, there is inevitably a time lag. That is the reason for the unseasonal rush of spring sake. I would like to reduce my stock more so that I can enjoy these seasonal drinks on time, but there are so many I want to drink that I can't reduce it at all.
As the label's image of a pretty, fragile girl suggests, this sake has a sweet and sour taste with a freshness that is typical of nama-zake. I had imagined it to have a gentler flavor, but it had a surprisingly strong sake-like and alcohol-like taste.
I heard that there are several patterns of Yukinofu labels, so I will try to buy it again when I see it.
I received a bottle of Chiebijin Lapin.
This is my first Chiebijin and my first Oita Prefecture sake.
I was at a liquor store and was required to buy one more bottle of sake, and this was the one I chose. I had seen it on social networking sites, but the actual bottle stood out amongst the many labels.
It was a not-so-positive choice for a cuddle, and one of those so-called "jackets," but it was an unexpected bonanza.
It was a bittersweet, lactic sweetness and umami with a hint of youthfulness, just like the activated nigori sake that I love to drink when I am new to sake.
I have always thought all light nigori spring sake is delicious, but Lapin was outstanding.
Without question, it will definitely be on my list to buy again next year.
I belatedly received a bottle of Tasake spring sake.
I bought Tasake's new light nigori sake two years in a row, but this is the first time I have had any other sake. Actually, I was curious about this sakura label last year and had planned to buy it, but since it had been available at the liquor store for a while, I put it off thinking I could buy it anytime I wanted. This year, I learned my lesson and acted early, so I was able to get them.
The taste is sweet like cotton candy, with a low acidity. It has a strong sense of rice flavor and body, with a refreshing bitterness in the aftertaste and a slight tanginess that is typical of Japanese sake.
This is one of the reasons why I have not bought much Tazake even though I know it is delicious, but there seems to be a large discrepancy between the image one gets from the label and the impression one gets from the taste. The cherry blossom label is fine because it still has a gorgeous spring-like feel, but the classical atmosphere of the regular label makes it hard to imagine this type of flavor.
I have so far passed up on Tazake because the label design is one of the criteria for buying it as well as the flavor, but I may have been wasting my time.
This is a special pure rice (tokusujun) from Sairai.
It was purchased at the same time as the special junmai Hanazumi (hereafter referred to as Hanazumi) that I received the other day.
Both are the same special junmai, but they are completely different.
Both are unfiltered, unfiltered, unfiltered sake with a touch of gas, but the texture of Hana Sumi is smooth and smooth, while the texture of Tokujun is a little thicker and smoother. Tokujun has a pale yellow color, which is in contrast to Hanazumi, which is a light nigori white sake.
To put it simply, Hana Sumi tastes sweet and bitter, while Tokujun tastes sweet and sour.
Tokujun has a mild aroma, but the taste is richly sweet with a sourness that is like berry fruits.
It does not have an overpowering bitterness like Hana Sumi, and the lingering sweetness lasts until the latter half of the bottle. While Hana Sumi is a sake that is suitable as an in-between-dinner drink, Tokujun is a highly satisfying sake that can be enjoyed on its own, and is more of an "in-demand" type of sake.
Tokujun seems to be made with Akita Sake Komachi rice, which is used in sake breweries in the Tohoku region, especially in Akita.
I first encountered Sairai as a half-junket purchase, but it has become my favorite brand.
I received the San-do no Kago Shi-no-shozo.
I love San-do, but this is the first sake made with rice other than Yamadanishiki.
When the bottle was opened, it was very energetic and leaked gas, just like San-do. When poured into a glass, it was slightly carbonated with bubbles and looked no different from the usual Yamada-Nishiki Ninonbrew.
However, the aroma was different. Sansho always has a fruity aroma, but Kako, as its name suggests, had a gorgeous aroma that took it to the next level. On the day when Kako was steamed at the brewery, the whole town could smell the aromatic rice.
Like the aroma, the taste was one tone more gorgeous than that of Yamadanishiki, and the acidity was a little less pronounced and the sweetness more pronounced.
This is subjective, but if Yamadanishiki has a refreshing grape-like nuance, Kako gives the impression of more mellow peach and berry fruits.
This sake is clearly different from Yamada-Nishiki, although it falls within the category of its local characteristics.
Personally, I think Yamadanishiki Ninonunomai is top class in terms of satisfaction/price, but if Kako's Ninonunomai was possible, it would have become a regular sake in my house, just like Yamadanishiki Ninonunomai.
We received a bottle of Yamama no Comet.
It is a bottle of junmai ginjo unfiltered unpasteurized sake made from "Comet," Hokkaido's preferred rice for sake brewing, and the middle part of the bottle was bottled directly from the kameguchi.
It is so fresh that you can enjoy the slight sparkle. It is just like the image on the label, which is as refreshing as a Ramune.
The aroma is a mellow ginjo aroma. The taste is my favorite sweet and bitter type that I sometimes encounter. The moment you put it in your mouth, it has a fruity impression with a rich sweetness and acidity, just like the aroma, but after swallowing, the sweetness slowly turns into bitterness, and the lingering bitter taste, with a slight spiciness from the alcohol, tightens up the inside of your mouth. This sweet and bitter taste is similar to the Shichu we had previously.
This is my second bottle of Yamama since Ori-Ori Rock about two months ago, and I really liked both Ori-Ori Rock, an active nigori sake, and Comet, a clear sake. They are rare sakes that are hard to find, but I will definitely buy them when I see them in the future.
I had a bottle of Sairai's Hanasumi.
The frosted bottle with a light misty color is the same as that of "Usugiri", a winter sake of the same Sairai brand. The simple and smart label and the stylish appearance of the frosted glass bottle give it an atmosphere that other brands do not have. Like Usugiri, I wanted to try it as soon as I saw it and jumped at the chance.
There was a warning tag attached to the bottle, but I opened it without any difficulty without the bottle flying or spewing.
I drank it with the image of the gorgeous aroma and sweet taste of Sairai, but it was a little different.
The moment you put it in your mouth, it has a light sweetness with a soft umami and a gentle acidity that is typical of light nigori, but the bitterness follows soon after, and the crisp and spicy aftertaste of alcohol follows, leaving a clean and dry impression after drinking.
With this Hanasumi, I feel I was able to experience the difference between junmai ginjo and special junmai. The Sairai I had been drinking was a junmai ginjo, but Hanasumi is a special junmai. I thought it was suitable for drinking during a meal because of its lighter taste and less cloying flavor.
This time we served it with grilled fava beans, and it was a perfect match with the green bitterness of the fava beans. As a spring sake, it would go perfectly with spring ingredients such as butterbur sprouts and rape blossoms.
This is my first time to drink a sake from Aichi Prefecture, and my first time to drink a brewer's sake from Aichi Prefecture.
In early January, I learned of the existence of this light nigori through an e-mail from a liquor store, and was intrigued by the fact that it is sold only by reservation, which is not often heard of among Japanese sake, so I immediately made a reservation.
In addition to the limited pre-order, there are many other interesting points about this sake, such as the fact that it is a rare sake from brewer Kuheiji, and that it is made with Hyogo-produced Yamadanishiki, which is grown by a corporation in Hyogo Prefecture.
I was notified of its arrival in late February and received it the same day, but it took me two months to drink it. The label on the back said to drink it as soon as possible, but I kept it at ice temperature, so let's believe it's okay.
Now, this is my first time drinking sake from brewer Kuheiji. When poured into a glass, it has a relatively silky texture, and the degree of nigorigo is slightly thinner than Pocari Sweat. It has a fresh fruity ginjo aroma, and a pleasantly gassy sensation in the mouth. The taste is full and delicious, yet light, and the mouthfeel is clear and refreshing for a light nigori. The impression is elegant and refined.
It is a bottle that I would like to drink again next year.
I received my second bottle of Harukoyi this season.
I bought it in early February and it has been almost 3 months. I liked it so much that I left it in a safe place and it is now May. The season is no longer called spring.
By the way, there are still several other bottles of spring sake waiting in the refrigerator. I like spring sake so much that I bought too many.
The first bottle was so healthy that it overflowed when I opened the bottle, so I was worried that it might explode from being laid to rest, but my fears were unfounded. I guess it is thanks to Remacom's sub-zero storage in this area.
Even so, a few seconds after uncorking the bottle, the lees seemed to expand and the liquid level began to rise, so I hurriedly poured it into a glass. We had to be careful with active nigori sake because of this time delay attack.
The bubbles were also rising from the sake poured into the glass. The texture is smooth and smooth, but when you put it in your mouth, the bubbles pop. The lactic, sweet and sour taste is strawberry cream soda.
I have had several pink nigori sake this season, and this is still my favorite.
I bought only two bottles this year, but I wish I had bought more.
Let's look forward to next year.
Good evening, Hori.
I understand very much~! We have one bottle left in our fridge 🥹It's one of the best examples of pink low-alcohol nigori, and one of the best things about it is that it's easy to drink, but I'm too wasted to open it 🤣.
Thank you for your comment, Kotaro 😊.
I didn't know there was someone who could understand!
Harukoi is delicious 🌸I'm jealous that you still have one left 🥺.
We received a bottle of Junmai Daiginjo Ginpu from Hanahayokyu.
This is the fourth bottle of Hanahayo Kuyu.
After drinking four bottles, I realized that there are many different types of Hanahayo Kuyu.
Basically, there is no doubt that they are gorgeous, mellow, and sweet, but among them, this Ginjo has a refreshing taste.
The silver label may be partly responsible for its image, but it has the smartest taste of all the Hana-yosu I have tasted so far, and the aroma is also relatively mild.
The moment it enters the mouth, it has a pineapple aroma and sweetness that is typical of Huayouyasute. Immediately after, the spiciness that stimulates the palate changes to a distinct bitterness in the back of the mouth, giving the overall impression of dryness.
The closest thing to the image I had of Hana-yoso since I had never had it before was the first time I drank Junmai Ginjo Miyamanishiki. If it had been this Ginpu for the first time, I might have thought that it was different from my image.
But that is why I want to try all the varieties, and I guess that is what some people are actually aiming for.
I don't know how many years it will take me, but I will try to complete it.
I received KOUEIGIKU's OMACHI from Hello!
KOUEIGIKU, so I wanted to try the OMACHI version and bought it.
It was not as syrupy as the Aizan, but still had a thick, glossy, smooth texture.
It has a fruity aroma and a rich flavor, and the overall taste is well balanced with low acidity and bitterness. The woody nuances that are typical of Kouei Kiku are also clearly noticeable.
While Aizan has a rich sweetness and pronounced acidity, Omachi has a deep umami that can be enjoyed.
I did not expect such a difference in character between Aizan and Omachi. I guess you could say that Aizan has the individuality of Aizan and Yumachi has the royal road.
This is not just a difference in the level of rice used to make the same sake.
I believe that the sake quality is designed to show the best of each rice.
Before I discovered Hello, I thought that Koei Kiku was the best Sno Crescent, but Hello is delicious in a different direction, sticking out from Sno Crescent. The two bottles of Hello, Aizan and Omachi, were the best tasting, allowing even an amateur like me to realize the greatness of the brewery and its toji.
We received a spring-like peach-colored nigori sake from Ride? This sake is made by the Sakai Sake Brewery in Yamaguchi Prefecture, which is famous for its Gohashi (five bridges).
I fell in love with the pink nigori sake when I first tried it last year, and was intrigued by the similar looking ride?pink. I was interested in the similar looking ride?pink, but by the time I realized it was no longer sold anywhere, so I waited a year to get my hands on a bottle.
It has a distinctive label design, a silhouette of a raccoon dog on a motorcycle, and I've seen it released in a variety of color labels depending on the season, in addition to pink. It might be fun to have all the colors.
When you twist the screw cap, you can see the bubbles rising and the freshness of the bubbles is outstanding.
When you drink only the supernatant, you can feel a pleasant gaseous sensation and a sharp acidity.
In terms of fruits, it is more like raspberries or plums with a stronger acidity than strawberries.
After mixing the lees, which are hard to mix because they have hardened, and drinking it, you will find a soft, thick mouthfeel with a tight gasp. The milky lactic acidity mellows out the sharp acidity, making it suddenly easier to drink. Although it is low-alcohol, I drank too much of it and it came with a gusto afterwards.
The first sake from Kawazuru.
It is an active nigori sake made with Sanuki olive yeast.
I was curious about it because of its reputation for being delicious, and waited to encounter it without even looking for it, until one day I found it in the refrigerator of the liquor store I always patronize.
When I opened the bottle, it was as vibrant as the rumors said it would be. Even after chilling it below freezing and opening it slowly, the bubbles that welled up did not subside, and it took more than 10 minutes of opening and closing the cork before it settled down.
The difficult part was that the bubbles would be fine at the moment of opening the bottle, but after a second or two, bubbles would start rising from the lees that had accumulated at the bottom. If I had opened the bottle fully from the beginning without knowing it, it would have spurted out for sure.
When poured into a glass, the bubbles are as frothy as those of a carbonated beverage. It is a cloudy, slightly cloudy, and the way it is bubbling is similar to that of Calpis soda.
When drunk, it has a silky texture typical of nigori sake. In addition to its low alcohol content, the fine and soft gaseous sensation is pleasant and makes you want to drink it in large gulps.
The taste is sweet with a lactic acidity and is cool and fresh. There is a unique nuance in the aftertaste, which is probably due to the character of olive yeast.
As a lover of activated nigori sake, this is a bottle that I would like to keep on hand until the next new sake season.
Two consecutive days of cold chrysanthemum on a clear day. Yesterday it was Koyama Shoten's special order, but today it is the regular version.
I bought both bottles last year and compared them. Last year, I bought the regular version and then the "Betsuatsurae" version, so this year I reversed the order.
Last year you had to look at the back to tell the difference, but this year the "sake" mark of Koyama Shoten is now on the Bessatsurae, so you can tell even if you are facing the front. As far as I know, the company's logo has been on the "Batsuatsurae" since the Yajima Sake Shop Batsurae of Kenaiyama last fall, which coincides with the change in the material of the thin vertical label.
As for the taste, as I thought last year, these two bottles are very different in terms of direction.
The normal version has a fresh, fruity, sweet, juicy taste that is typical of Kangiku, while the Betsuatsurae has a more complex taste with a strong gaseous taste due to its orikara flavor. The normal version also has a gaseous taste, but the Betsuatsurae is so gaseous that the bottle-opening warning is displayed, and the mouthfeel is like a slightly carbonated beverage.
My impression of the comparison is exactly the same as last year's. The taste that is typical of Kangiku is the regular version, and my personal favorite is the Betsuatsurae.
This is the third consecutive bottle of Kangiku, and for the first time in a long time, I was able to enjoy Kangiku at its best. It is still delicious.
We opened a bottle of Kangiku no Harehi. This is a special limited edition from Koyama Shoten, which we also received last year.
It is a special version of Junmai Daiginjo Haruhi made with Yamadanishiki and Akaban Omachi, and then directly bottled in the middle of the bottle to be orikara. It is also slightly carbonated and has all the features I like in a sake. I have drunk nearly 30 bottles of Kangiku so far, and if I were asked to name my favorite, I would say this is my favorite without hesitation.
Last year was the first time in my life that I hit the ceiling with the cork. When I bought it this year, I was told that the gas was stronger than last year's, so I held it down properly and was able to open it safely.
When poured into a glass, the milky white liquor has bubbles like a carbonated beverage.
The sweetness and umami typical of Kangiku is combined with the lactic acidity and softness of orikarami, and the complexity of the bitterness, spiciness, and astringency hidden in the lees gives it a very deep flavor.
After drinking it over the past year, I am once again convinced that it is my best of Kangiku.
I have also bought the regular version to compare this year, so I will drink them side by side at a later date.
