Kuromatsu-Hakushika (White Deer) Yamadanishiki Junmai Sake

Bottle. Pours with an ever so slight yellow tinge to an otherwise clear body. Very weak legs, if any. Aroma of alcohol, almond, vanilla, koji, umami, grass, and a bit of cantaloupe. Taste is heavy on the koji, medium to sweet with a decent amount of umami meatiness up front. Lingeringly sweet with honeydew melon. Alcohol is much more mellow than it is on the nose. Relatively pleasant. A bit thin on the mouthfeel, but balanced. Lingering aftertaste (longish duration).

Pours clear with a gold tint. Smells of rice and alcohol with some fruitiness present. Tastes sweet and boozy. Easy drinking.

Bottled. Tons of koji in the aroma, melon, grassiness, not too complex. A bit of grain alcohol lingers on the palate, with more koji flavors, florals and mud. Very basic sake.

I’ve left this poor sake specimen to age and wither in my basement for a year, but when I came back from Seattle to Colorado with a newfound affinity for sake I was glad to have it all the same. By the good grace of my past-self, the sake had been exposed neither to light nor to heat and was in good condition by the time I poured it, chilled, into a wine glass. There it sat, expectantly, calmly, clear and lucid save for the slightest touch of gold, no doubt from the unintended aging. The aroma is very funky, redolent with koji, a once hostile aromatic but now an addictive element in most sakes I’ve sampled. An impish grin of musk melon debuts in the aroma after two or three labored sniffs, but I am immediately repelled by a very strong vapor of alcohol burning the lower periphery of my nostrils. Despite this hostile chemical attack, the flavor is rather soft and smooth. The alcohol takes a more complementary approach, and the flavor is diluted, even watery. It takes some deliberation, but I conclude that the flavor is not weak. Maybe a little feeble, but mostly a soft brush stroke of moderately dry, rice flavor. A heavy palate and a tingle of sweetness of the aftertaste growing stronger as it acclimates to room temperature make this an extraordinarily, approachably soft and simple sake. Give it plenty of time and the sake will even bloom with some peach and raspberry notes in the finish. Certainly not a detailed sake, I wouldn’t hesitate to serve this to first time sake drinkers, so long as they plug their noses.

300 ml bottle. My first experience with Sake. It pours quite clear with just a touch of cloudyness, could be the cold temp at which it was drank. Our waiter suggested to drink it with a few slivers of cucumber in our glass. This gave it a bit of freshness added with the smooth rice and alcohol flavors. Quite good, I am stil not sold on drinking Sake over beer, but something a little different

(300 ml bottle from 1828 Vintage House) Served lightly chilled. Poured clear as water. Aroma of rice, yeast and alcohol. Wine-like mouthfeel, lightly dry. Legs/lacing consist of droplets along inside of glass. Flavor is quite hot and yeasty, on the sweet side with a strong fermented rice taste. Maybe even a touch bready. I enjoyed it more cooler than warmer. Feels quite refined but quite potent! Seems like a better than average sake.

a clear color with a light aroma sweet rice and a vaguely nutty character. A surprisingly potent flavor with citrus undercurrents and a light nuttyness a light finish with smooth body.

Pours clear. Thin lasting legs. Nose is alcoholic and sweet like tereyaki rice. kind of remindes me of triple bock. Taste is about the same and the mouthfeel is coating.Finish is a bit warming. Not overly impressed here.