Sweet nuts on the nose: cashew, pistachio butter, cheesecake, sweet whey, okinawa brown sugar, nutella, and a twang of ammonia and smoky peat. This palate knocks you off your socks! Powerfully savory and dynamically different cereal/savory/toasted notes than anything else you've ever had.
My tasting notes never end with an ingredient, instead Red Label inevitably evokes an entire dish, a mood, a memory...I recall buckwheat groats shallow frying in butter...toasted wild rice, or 12 grain pancakes... heady, intoxicating, wildly evocative. The last aromas rising from a Summer fire pit dying down, burnt sugar, mezcal, especially long roasted agave hearts destined for distillation. Sweet notes of sultanas, hazelnut, amontillado sherry, birch syrup, comte and gruyere cheese.
A wild ride, that's for damn sure. Age at home (in the dark, room temp or cellar) if you want to take this ride even further, checking on its progress yearly.
My tasting notes never end with an ingredient, instead Red Label inevitably evokes an entire dish, a mood, a memory...I recall buckwheat groats shallow frying in butter...toasted wild rice, or 12 grain pancakes... heady, intoxicating, wildly evocative. The last aromas rising from a Summer fire pit dying down, burnt sugar, mezcal, especially long roasted agave hearts destined for distillation. Sweet notes of sultanas, hazelnut, amontillado sherry, birch syrup, comte and gruyere cheese.
A wild ride, that's for damn sure. Age at home (in the dark, room temp or cellar) if you want to take this ride even further, checking on its progress yearly.
Stats:
- Vintage: 2021
- Grade: Junmai Muroka Nama Genshu Namazake Koshu
- Rice: Gohakymangoku
- Polishing: 66%
- Yeast: Ambient
- Starter: Yamahai
- Alcohol: 21%
Toji Philip Harper says, "It's mine until I sell it, then it's yours." Do what you want to with it. Age it, drink it, leave it out, cook with it, warm it, chill it, whatever you like. Just enjoy.