I was on my way home Saturday afternoon when I decided to take a slightly circuitous route and stop by Naitoh Saketen and pick up a bottle. I had something in mind that I was pretty sure they would have in stock–and it was a nice afternoon for a walk.

Yaoshin Shuzo Gangi
Junmai Murooka Hiya Oroshi Yamadanishiki

Naitoh Saketen is well on the other side of the tracks from us, but I make a point of stopping by now and then. They have an extensive selection of shochu, fine spirits, and some specialty food items in what seems to be an ordinary storefront that has been hidden by highway construction for what seems like years. But, step inside and they are just great. One thing I especially like is that they always seem to stock at least one bottle from Gangi from Yaoshin Shuzo in Iwakuni, Yamaguchi. Last time it was a very refined sparkling, but this time it was autumn, so hiya oroshi was in the cooler at a very reasonable ¥1,340 for a 720 ml bottle. I thought this fit perfectly with Et-chan’s ongoing Sanin Tour Series.

I don’t often see Gangi in shops or restaurants around here, but when I do, I am always pleased to find it so far from its home. Last year, Et-chan and I were lucky enough to get an extended tour of the brewery from Kobayashi-shacho as part of our caravan around Sanin. Gangi is a very interesting kura physically. The name Gangi itself means, “a landing place for river ships”. Originally built as a rice warehouse on the riverbank for easy access, the main brewery building is very long and comparatively narrow. [Click the navigation blocks on the left and then scroll make sure to scroll down each bilingual page at Yaoshin to get to the English translation.]

I poured a glass for each of us, but kept the bottle hidden. Et-chan first guessed Garyubai, which was a fair guess. Despite the distance between Yamaguchi and Shizuoka, those two brews might almost seem like brothers, or at least cousins. Both are full and direct up front, clean with a nice finish, and very “sturdy” for lack of a better word. Though Gangi can be quite stylish and subtler than this bottle, since it is hiya oroshi time, this one was brasher. There was a really good bitterness or nigami that I couldn’t quite put my finger on. I was trying to connect it to that bitter net of white inside an orange peel–if subtracted all of the orangeness or citrus. Anyway, this young bottle has some impact with high alcohol at 17%. Though a Yamadanishiki Junmai Murooka, it wasn’t genshu. Even with water added, this was strong. The bitterness was there, and then it was clean away–it didn’t linger. We kept sipping for a bit before dinner and as the nihonshu warmed from the fridge to closer to room temperature, it stayed consistent and good. Three days of sitting in the fridge after opening mellowed the strong edges without wrecking it. Just the bottle for the beginning of fall.

Read about hiya oroshi from John Gauntner.

Yaoshin Shuzo
Iwakuni-shi, Yamaguchi-ken
Tel/Fax: 0827-22-2262

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