Gekkeikan (Laurel Crown) Traditional Sake

Brewed by Gekkeikan Sake (USA)
Style: Saké - Futsu-shu
Folsom, California USA

Serve in Guinomi, Masu, Ochoko

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I must admit that sake was something I had wanted to try for sometime. I am so very glad that it wasn’t my money that was wasted on this horror.
The aroma is enough to deter any sane man - it smells very strongly of the water rice is cooked in and alcohol. It gets worse from there. The flavour is alcohol and what tasted like some sort of cleaning product. And then, to add insult to injury, there is the appallingly long aftertaste.

I can’t help but wonder what I did to Japan to deserve such torture...

UPDATED: MAY 27, 2012 Very clear appearance, with some particles and a jelly-like look to it. Smells of fruit, bread and fingernail polish remover. Tasted at about 50F. Very smooth palate that starts out thin, but thickens as it goes down. Odd. Like liquid rice w/ a hint of alcohol. Almost chewy and can sense the rise. Slight burn. Not all that bad.

clear water, moderate legs. Nose is lightly toasty, considerable rice and sugar. More sweet and dirty than hakkaisan, more grainy, harsher finish, less floral and interplay.

Bottle: Served warm in some Asian looking porcelin: Clear like water look. Smell rice, alcohol, white wine, soda, spiritus, cheese, light vinager. Taste alcohol, rice, spiritus, spicy yet smooth, something light dusty yeasty and light soft cheese and cabbage notes. Very nice spicy rice aftertaste. No carbo, soft spicy mouthfeel, medium to lightly fuller body and a texture between watery and light creamy.

Bottled
Courtesy of FatPhil in Tallinn, thanks! Clear sake. Alcohol, some rice in the nose. Fruity, some apples. grapes and rice. Mellow but a bit weak. Ok sake.

Smell: bit of booze, gin like, bit sweet, bit like medicinal alcohol, roses / orange blossom
Taste: start is a bit honey like with a touch of booze , mostly tastes like watered down dutch gin, also a bit sweet with a semi dry boozy end , aftertaste is bit grainy. first sake i had so i don’t know all the differences between them or what a really good sake should taste like ... so for me this one’s ok

750ml bottle (Prisma, Tallinn)
5 Weird aroma, a touch fruity, apple and pear, but also some gone-off cheese.
1 Could be water. Could be vodka. Could be a mix of the two. Who knows? Who cares? For a sake, this is probably a straight-down-the-middle average 3, but I don’t think look should even be rated in a style where looks like this are typical. 5 Mostly inoffensive, the apple and other fruity components are there again in the retronasals, but generally there’s little to grab on to in the taste. I don’t believe it was made for there to be something to grab on to, so that’s not a flaw, but, like vodka, tasting of as little as possible is a negative as well as a positive.
2- Only getting 2 so the things that I give 1 to stand out. There is no palate, it’s just devoid of any tangible body. But it’s not offensive, and it doesn’t burn, so it must stand out from the 1s.
8 He giveth in the palate, he taketh away in the overall. A pretty clean drink, but to me a style with almost no merit. Even worse than lager! (Yes, MartinT, that final sentence was added just for you!)

I used to like Gekkeikan a lot and considered it the best cheap sake available in America. It also seems to be the most widely distributed, and often the only sake on the shelf. I am not sure what happened - if it changed, or I did. It used to be very nice, with a lightly sweet, fruity edge. Now it seems bland and stale, a fairly simple and dull alcoholic rice drink. It is still potable and it is available for around $7 a bottle, but this was a disappointment. This was brewed in California for the American market - I wonder what serious sake fans think of it - I bet not much.

750ml bottle from Pick’s poured into a standard tumbler. Pours clear like water, with no head. Aroma is almost like some kind of crappy flavored vodka. Watery rice and booze. Taste is...something. Light sour maybe? Loads of booze here. Light bodied, thin textured. No carbonation and an absurdly long, nasty booze burning finish. Overall, I’ve had worse. As bad as this is, it still beats any "light" beer I’ve had.

My first sake rating. This is a cheap mediocre sake. I’ve had this cold and warmed up, but there are better sakes than this.

Tap, warm - not sure hwow to really rate these, only 2nd ever try of sake. Warm, almost medicine aroma. High alcohol, mild flavor. Like the cold one I also had tonight better, it was much easier to drink for a sake newbie!