The Jizake “Choshu Roman” Tokubetsu Junmai Sake (Japan) – There’s something here…earthy, a little herbal, setting up a vacation home in the realm of umami…that’s unusual in my sake experience. This, though, is a closeout and I wonder if this intriguing character is due to some essential quality or because the bottle’s too old (there’s no apparent lot or date indication on the label, though there are some smudges of something that might once have been same). Whatever the source, there’s a delicacy, quiet nervosity, and balance to this that I haven’t quite experienced before in my extremely neophytical rice-beverage explorations. I really like this, in case it’s not obvious. (12/10)
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tokubetsu junmai
Just a seki
Nishinoseki “Tezukirui” Tokubetsu Junmai Sake (Japan) – I’m terrible at discriminating the elements of sake; so much of the core of it tastes more or less fine to me, and I’m often more excited by the gross textural appeal of unfiltered versions than I am of anything more normal. But let’s give it a shot. A little soft and tropical, leaning on banana and a fake sort of bubblegum notion of peach, but smooth and flowing. The texture is utterly seductive, but the content of that texture just isn’t that interesting. (10/10)