Kiichiro-no-sake Daiginjo

This week, my friend and I brought one bottle of sake each to a dinner at a restaurant with more than 20 people. The event was at an all you can drink restaurant that takes group reservations only. In addition to this group only policy, the interesting concept behind this hole-in-the-wall type place is that diners are charged by the hour: the first 3 hours is 4,900 yen per person, and after that 500 yen per hour per person. They serve a good course meal and any drinks from the bar–all included in the 4,900 yen. They serve mainly Japanese food and provide a very long drink list. What’s great about the place is they allow you to bring in any food or drink without any additional corkage fees.

My friend, aka the White Ranger, brought in Kiichiro-no-sake daiginjo from Akita that she brought back from her visit to Kikusui in Noshiro the previous weekend. It was sooo Akita in the sense that it had lots of flavors: umami, amami, and san, ending the sip with very long lasting velvety feel that lingers there pleasantly. Very nice sake, on the heavy side.

Ugo-no-tsuki Tokubetsu Junmai

Then, we opened the bottle I brought in from our fridge. I bought Ugo-no-tsuki tokubetsu junmai from Hiroshima the previous week to try at home. I had tried their sake at some tasting events and was always impressed with their very elegant style.

“It’s like low fat milk and 35% cream!” No one understood where my comment came from at first, right after the big sip of Ugo-no-tsuki. It felt like this one from Hiroshima was so refreshingly light following right after the typical Akita sake, which made me think of heavy cream. Both were very good, but totally at the opposite ends of the spectrum in terms of heaviness/lightness.

Soon after my comment, White Ranger corrected me by saying, “Chigau, Et-chan! Kiichiro is not 35%, 49% Takanashi Cream is more like it!”

Kiichiro-no-sake daiginjo is produced by Kikusui in Norisho, Akita.
Kikusui Web site in English: http://www.shirakami.or.jp/~kikusui/index-e.htm

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