Nishide Shuzo Junmai Daiginjo "100 Year Sake"

Gorgeous, memorable, elegant...this kutani-ware ceramic bottle in a Paulownia box is almost enough to justify the price on its own. 

It's with a sigh of relief that the elegance isn't just surface level. As I write this, I've been sipping slowly on "100 Years" over the course of 6 weeks, watching it evolve. In this period, I've also had the great honor to visit Nishide Shuzo and meet Nishide-san in person. He's incredibly talented, experimental, smart and kind. One of my great inspirations: Yusuke Shimoki of Engawa bar in Yamanaka-onsen, when pressed, said this of Nishide-san:

"He's unpredictable, always changing. Always coming up with something new. Always pushing boundaries. He follows intuition. That's what I appreciate."

Tasting notes

The nose is flinty, mineral, salty, with watermelon rind, chervil and spicy daikon notes. On the palate, the sake is at once minutely textural (mineral water? velvet?) and intriguing, with an astringency that reminds me of just-underripe banana. Flavors of lemon, white grapefruit, fresh corn and corn husk, cape gooseberry, seaweed, hay and cucumber seem to waft by. The finish brings back that velvety quality...laden with white chocolate and good hazlenut oil.
Like Chiyomidori MS3, another favorite daiginjo of mine brewed with ambient brewery yeast, "100 Year" won't fit in a neat little box. This isn't a textbook "peach, banana, melon" daiginjo--  It's entirely one of a kind.

From the time of opening to finishing the bottle 6 weeks later, 100 Years is still expressive and evolving. At first the acidity (and citrus quality) was more prominent...now at 6 weeks, the cucumber-melon angle is at its peak and the texture is even more indulgent.