This is a powerful beast of a sake and an excellent choice for lovers of Super Ultra Dry (+15 SMV!), powerful (18% abv!), savory and complex drinks.
Flavor:
Although dry on the palate, offering no sweetness at all, it still has an unctuous, rich finish infused with ricey softness-- like a good bowl of brown rice congee & a pat of butter. Faint aromatics of soft pear, white pepper and rice bran offer one perspective, while the palate is a wave of roast chicken, kombu dashi, Chinese 5 spice and apple chip. In addition to being dry, it is also high in ABV (18) and high in acidity (2.6) for an overwhelmingly
Pairing:
If you enjoy a dry martini, especially a real dirty one, this is a great sake for you. It's excellent with any rich cuisine (fried food, greasy fried rice, duck) but also pairs very well with bright, briney seafood, especially raw bar items like oysters, caviar and mussels, or salty gravlax. As a rule, it loves anything salty.
Stats:
- Brewery: Akishika Shuzo
- Brand: Akishika
- Established: 1886
- Prefecture: Osaka
- Rice: Yamadanishiki
- Polish: 60%
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Starter method: Sokujo
Most sake brewers buy their rice – some from contracted farmers, most from unknown sources. “From our own fields to bottle” is the motto of Akishika Shuzō, where 6th-generation kuramoto Oku Hiroaki made a decision to take the brewery as close as it gets to being self-sustained for rice production.
At present, the brewery farms 25 hectares of biodynamically grown rice, sacrificing high yields for superior quality and taste. Breaking with the production methods of postwar Japan and going against the trend of the time, Oku-san was one of the initial pioneers of junmaishu, sake made without any additives; and in 2009, he achieved the goal of the brewery’s entire production being made that way. Akishika ages a big part of their production until it reaches perfect drinking condition, allowing them to offer an unrivaled variety of matured sake.
Using their unique fermentation method of dissolving a very high portion of the fermentation rice into the brew while maintaining low amino acid levels, Akishika’s sake is medium-bodied yet very flavorful, complex, and layered.