Hiraizumi Honjozo Yamahai Cup
- In stock, ready to ship
From the third oldest brewery in Japan, makers of the phenomenal Yamahai No. 77, a cup sake worth waiting for!
A few cases landed in March 2023- as of arrival, this is a soft yamahai with a light custardy richness, unctuous but not dense, with notes of marshmallow, chamomile, aloe, lychee, cherimoya, caramel, flan -- a little texture on the finish, but not coarse.
But give it time. Cause this is one little cup sake to keep an eye on. 6 months, a year from now-- the yamahai is really gonna show its stuff!
Stats:
- Akita prefecture
- Brewery: Hiraizumi Honpo
- Rice: local (blend)
- Seimaibuai (rice polishing ratio): 60%
- Brewing starter: Yamahai
- Yeast: Kuratsuki kobo (house yeast)
- SMV: +3
- Acidity: 1.5
- ABV: 15%
Brewery:
On the Southern coast of Akita, hundreds of miles from practically anything else, Hiraizuimi has been brewing sake since 1487. They are the 3rd oldest brewery in Japan, and the oldest in the Tohoku region. The current head of the brewery is the 26th consecutive generation in charge.
During the Edo period, the town now known as Hirasawa prospered as a castle town of the Nikaho clan, a post town on the Ushu Kaido road, and a port of call for Kitamaebune trading ships. Sake is always in demand in places of industry and economic motion, so Hiraizumi thrived.
Despite the brewery's extraordinary longevity, and with it the weight of 26 generations of tradition and reputation, Hiraizumi belongs to an intellectual moment in Akita that is focused on innovation, quality and local ingredients. As a result, today's Hiraizumi is novel, exciting, and to old-fashioned tastes, unwelcome.
