Gozenshu Omachi Bodaimoto Kijoshu

It's as if you took Gozenshu 1859, their flagship junmai, as a flat object, and then made it 3-dimensional. 1859 is floral, pretty, lactic, complex-- but with the kijoshu all of a sudden you get these layers, like velvet brocade, like a fine woven carpet-- clean and new, but with history in each fiber, different from each angle.

Kijoshu is a style of sake where, as the brew is "built" through successive additions of rice, koji and water, the 4th addition (out of 4) replaces the water with sake. This has the effect of 1) concentrating the brew, and 2) spiking the alcohol content, which slows down the yeast, making it struggle to the finish line. Struggling yeast produce different aromatics and the final brew tends to be more acidic + sweeter. In talented hands, the final sake is complex, concentrated and layered.

So how does it taste? Well, the acidity is fairly high, spiky the moment it hits the tongue, but also soft and lactic. Reminds me of creme fraiche, where it hits you at first with a satisfying sharpness and then melts to a creamy finish. But the sake isn't heavy, it's not dense. The creaminess doesn't linger too long or coat your tongue. Sweetness isn't notable honestly, it comes across as completely balanced and drinks like Gozenshu's regular Junmai-- just with more going on. In wine terms I might liken this to a lovely valtellina nebbiolo with 20 years on it, that at first glance seems as youthful as the day it was born, before leading into a textured, layered, softened and wizened nobility that comes with age. A flavor that begs you to slow down and notice.

Gosh...specific tasting notes feel inadequate here. But when I grasp, I find creme fraiche from grass-fed cows, alpine flowers, orange blossom honey, osmanthus white tea, fresh mandarins and frangipane.