Kakujo Junmai Ginjo [1 Koku - 40]

"Castle of the Cranes" from Ōita Prefecture's Bungo Meijyo Shuzo, nestled in the hills of Saiki city's Naokawa village. A relatively young brewery, turning 100 this year, and seems to be more famous for its shochu. From what little I can glean from their website, there appears to have been some concern about a past connection between Bungo Meijyo and Mikasa Foods, the company at the heart of the tainted rice scandal that brought down Bishonen. A press release on their website (from 2008, so this is old news, but news to me) indicates that the origin of all rice used at the brewery has been accounted for and that there is no concern over contamination. So there you go.

I can tell you that this sake was more than fine. Yamada Nishiki milled to 58%, SMV 2.5, acidity 1.8, amino acidity 1.8, KA-1 yeast (#9 family) and 15.5% abv. At room temperature, light but sweet aroma, soft, cool and creamy entry, followed by a flash of nuttiness and wood spice, before the acidity just takes over on clean-up duty, leaving a faintly marine savouriness on the palate. All much cleaner when chilled, and I'd be happy to drag a bottle of this into any Beppu onsen you care to direct me to. Instead, it's a Japanese sports day on Japan TV, started with some domestic rugby, followed by the collegiate Hakone road race (talk about dramatic, when the boys collapse at the relay point), and the opening of the January sumo tournament later on this evening (DVR'd).