Shichiken "Silk" Kinu no Aji Junmai Daiginjo
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Snow melt from Mt. Kaikoma is filtered over 27 years through the mountain's granite layers, then runs directly through Hakushu, where Shichiken pumps it up from an onsite well for brewing. This super soft water is the driving force of Kinu no Aji, which literally translates to The Flavor of Silk. Notes of licorice, green pear, violets, confectioners sugar, and fennel are stark but subdued. Light on the palette with a perfumed, lingering finish. It's just dang pretty, and evokes a certain level of drama, but at the end of the day, Kinu no Aji hits hard with all our salty, savory bar snacks. A beautiful workhorse of a daiginjo.
Brewery: Yamanashi Meijo Co., Ltd., 山梨めいじょう
Brand: Shichiken, 七賢
Location: Hakushu, Yamanashi
Grade: Junmai Daiginjo
Rice: Yume Sansui
Polishing: 47%
Yeast: N/A
ABV 15%
Hakushu sits on the northern edge of Yamanashi prefecture, and shares a name with the famed water source also used for Suntory Hakushu whisky.
In 1750, Ikee Kitahara, an established sake brewer from Nagano, was taken by the soft, granite filtered waters that ran from the Japanese Alps' Mt. Kaikoma. He moved his operations to Hakushu in devotion of this pristine water source, and it has remained the cornerstone of the brewery's style ever since. Around 2018, brothers Ryogo and Tsushima Kitahara took over operations and leaned in even harder to Hakushu's locality. Prior to their generation, the brewery had run under the guild system, where seasonal contract toji and brewers came in and brewed in their own style. This stops with Ryogo, who took the title of toji at the young age of 30. The brothers don't shy away from the concept of terroir, owing the success and longevity of the family operation to Hakushu's water.
85.75 (Great!)
