Sweet Dreams

Suitable as a digestif or a dessert pairing, sweet style sake in Japan are often labelled Kijoshu, meaning noble brew. Although the National Tax Agency started to develop the drink in the 1970s to complete with the likes of premium noble rot sweet wines like Tokaji—a wine traditionally coveted by royalty and noblemen in Hungary—a recipe actually appears as far back as the 10th century. Kijoshu is in fact a protected term, similar to an appellation or classification, and only members of the association can add the term to the label but the style exists without the accreditation. Here are some of the best whether they use the term or not, available in Japan right now.

LABEL - KOKURYU KIJOSHU 2021
MAKER - KOKURYU SHUZO - FUKUI
SPEC - ABV 12% / Gohyaku-Mangoku rice milled to 55%

Nizaemon Ishidaya built the sake brewery in 1804 not far from the main Soto Zen temple Eihei-ji and his descendants have been making sake there ever since. The soft water which descends from the snow of the Hakusan mountains and into the Kuzuryu river, also known as The River of the Nine-Headed Dragon, creates mellow and delicate sake. This is a light and easy-drinking sweet style that isn’t cloying. It has a velvety texture with juicy, ripe fruit like Japanese pear, lychee and white peach.

BUY HERE IN JAPAN HERE:
https://www.imaday.jp/c/nihonsyu/2236

LABEL - AFS STRATAE 2017
MAKER - KIDOIZUMI SHUZO - CHIBA
SPEC - ABV 12% / Fusa-no-Mai rice milled to 70%

AFS which is an abbreviation of the names of the creators—Adachi, Furukawa, Shoji—of this unique brewing method, is a bottled fermentation starter made with hot water. Stratae is the Latin word for Strata meaning a series of layers, a nod to the multi-layered flavour profile of this release. There’s so much going on with this. It’s golden in colour due to the ageing. It’s intense on the nose with Vegemite and banana toffee. On the palate there’s candied orange peel, coffee, brown sugar, maple syrup, Oloroso sherry, pecan nuts, raisins and honey butter undertones, all with a clean finish.

BUY HERE IN JAPAN HERE:
https://www.imaday.jp/c/nihonsyu/1365

LABEL - DAIGO NO SHIZUKU 2022
MAKER - TERADA HONKE - CHIBA
SPEC - ABV 10-13% / Koshi-Hikari rice milled to 90%

Don’t expect consistency with Terada Honke as they leave a lot up to nature—they grow and use organic rice, they use ambient yeast, and they skip all unnecessary additions. What you can guarantee is that their drinks will be loaded with funkiness and surprises—you’ll either love them or hate them. Daigo is no different and definitely at the extreme end of their line-up. Lively effervescence on the opening, funky nose with notes of koji, white milk chocolate and pickled plum. On the palate, there’s also muscat grape, pear and green apple.

BUY HERE IN JAPAN HERE:
https://www.imaday.jp/c/nihonsyu/700

LABEL - NATURE X NATURE 2021
MAKER - MIYOSHINO JOZO (HANATOMOE) - NARA
SPEC - ABV 12% / rice not specified rice milled to 65%

Teruaki Hashimoto, owner and head brewer rarely specifies the rice he uses on his releases because he takes whatever rice is available to support what the local farmers feel is best to grow. On top of that, he never specifies the commercial yeast because he doesn’t use any—he lets nature do the work for his entire range—a rarity in the sake world. Nature x Nature has a funky nose like cheddar cheese, hazelnut, hay, cereal, honey, dried chewy mango, oak, and burnt caramel. It’s all well-integrated with complex, punchy acidity balanced well with gentle sweetness. This has tons of umami but with a clean finish.

BUY HERE IN JAPAN HERE:
https://yokikotokiku.jp/

LABEL - HYAKU NEN KIJOSHU 2020
MAKER - NIIDA HONKE - FUKUSHIMA
SPEC - ABV 16% / rice not specified rice milled to 70%

Launched in 2011 on the brewery’s 300-year anniversary, this is made with a portion of the previous year's Kijoshu instead of water. The bottle design marks the relay for this one-hundred-year project which will be handed down to the next generations. The inspiration for the project came from how Japanese ‘tare’ dipping sauce is topped up over generations, linking the past with the future—it’s made from scratch just once. Each year, the previous year’s batch is added to the new batch. This is velvety smooth and richly sweet with spice like clove and cinnamon, a touch of cedar, gingerbread biscuit and a clean finish.

BUY HERE IN JAPAN HERE:
https://niida1711.shop/items/612f19a2f604a95b795d8177