Appearance - 8 | Aroma - 8 | Flavor - 8 | Texture - 8 | Overall - 7.5
Glass at the brewery. Yellowish, bubbly. Bright, fruity, minerally nose. White grape, rice, koji, pear. Semi-dry flavor, light sweetness, creamy, some vanilla. Excellent stuff that no one would turn a nose down to in Japan (if tasted blind, that is!)
Appearance - 8 | Aroma - 7 | Flavor - 7 | Texture - 8 | Overall - 7.5
Taster at the brewery. Full and ricy flavor, more than the junmai. Creamy, fruity: apple, pear, peaches. nice peppery finish. Spicy. This was very nice.
Appearance - 6 | Aroma - 7 | Flavor - 7 | Texture - 6 | Overall - 7.5
Taster at the brewery. Creamy vanilla nose, white grapes, rice. Pretty milky white color. Creamy, spicy flavor, berries. full not not thick or chalky. Great balance, nice acidiy.
Appearance - 6 | Aroma - 7 | Flavor - 7 | Texture - 8 | Overall - 7
Taster at the brewery. A bit creamy nose, some smoke and alcohol, pear, nectarine. Nice rice flavor, creamy, good fruit, lightly tropical. Lightly spicy finish. Decent stuff.
Appearance - 8 | Aroma - 7 | Flavor - 7 | Texture - 8 | Overall - 7.5
Bottle pour at the brewery. Light yellow; thick looking. Salty, umami-laden nose, a bit smoky, miso, apples, cheese, cream. Pushing koshu status, this is a very interesting and original aged sake that is full of umami and would be great with rich foods.
Appearance - 6 | Aroma - 6 | Flavor - 6 | Texture - 6 | Overall - 6.5
Bottle sampled at Osake, pours a cloudy white. Aroma brings out lychee, booze, creaminess and white wine vinegar. Flavour is very creamy, with lots of booze, creaminess, and white wine vinegar. Finishes hot with lots of lychee. Solid but very hot and lacking some depth of their other products.
Appearance - 6 | Aroma - 6 | Flavor - 6 | Texture - 6 | Overall - 6.5
Bottle sampled at Osake, pours a clear pale blonde. Aroma brings out lots of booziness, some white vinegar, and rice. Flavour is quite fruity, with lychee, booziness, and white wine vinegar. Boozier than I recollect the other products here but it’s solid enough.
Appearance - 6 | Aroma - 7 | Flavor - 7 | Texture - 6 | Overall - 7
Bottle sampled at Osake, pours a hazy white with a small bubbly white head. Nose brings out notes of honey, tropical fruits and pears. Flavour is much like a champagne with all the carbonation, with dry pears, light tropical fruits and fairly low residual sweetness. Very nicely done.
Appearance - 8 | Aroma - 7 | Flavor - 7 | Texture - 8 | Overall - 7
Bottle sampled at Osake, pours a cloudy white. Nose brings out loads of lychee, medium sweetness and light stone fruitiness. Flavour brings out tons of lychee once again, followed by stone fruits and medium-high sweetness. Extremely smooth, with no harsh edges. Dynamic and wonderfully balanced. Really nice.
Appearance - 8 | Aroma - 8 | Flavor - 8 | Texture - 8 | Overall - 7.5
Bottle sampled at Osake, pours a cloudy orangey amber. Nose is sweet like a brandy, with notes of sweet caramel, dark fruits, and sugar. Flavour is intensely sweet, with cloying caramel sweetness, overripe fruits, and lingering sweetness. Doesn’t strike me as a sake, but this sure is a nice dessert liqueur of some kind. Excellent in small doses.