33. Kokken Tokubetsu Junmai
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The sake rice varietal "Yume no Kaori" is a local specialty from the Southern Aizu region of Fukushima Prefecture. This sake, made with 100% Yume no Kaori, has a fresh and mellow flavor that envelops the palate lovingly, and is brewed with Utsukushima Yume-Kobo: a yeast developed to synergize specifically with Yume no Kaori. In this respect it's a lot like Kokken's 3y aged yamahai (one of my favorite, favorite sake for Winter) but being that it's fresh and not aged, it shows the rice and yeast relationship more clearly. A beautiful, bright, dry goldilocks of a sake-- pride of Fukushima.
Kokken Shuzo, 国権酒造
Location: Minamiaizu, Fukushima
Rice: Yume no Kaori
Polishing: 60%
Yeast: Utskushima Yume Kobo (Fukushima yeast)
Water: semi-hard from Minami Aizu mountain range area
SMV: +2
Alcohol: 15%
Award-winning Kokken Sake Brewery was established in 1870, and is surrounded by virgin Beech forests and meadows in the lush and snowy Southern Minami Aizu region of Fukushima . Fukushima is Japan's 3rd largest prefecture, home to a wide range of lakes, forests and mountains, giving them very large and diverse terroir for sake brewing...but the Aizu range might be my favorite of the bunch.
Utilizing the techniques of the Nanbu Brewmasters' Guild of Iwate and their own local touch, Kokken produces exclusively Tokutei Meisho-shu (Premium Grade Sake like Junmai, Daiginjo, etc.) and only use sake-specific rice varietals, specializing in local Fukushima strains. Kokken produces many different sake (especially Junmai), but their brews are well-loved by locals and at least 60% of their sake is consumed in Fukushima.