Nihønshu Ø

Three sakes, derived from one batch, by fellow Mukune intern Kjetil Jikiun of Nøgne Ø. We met up at our local Malaysian restaurant, and tucked in. 85% Ginpu and 15% Yamada Nishiki milled (in Japan) to 70%, and then brewed with a yamahai starter (using #701 yeast.)

Hadakajima (Naked Island, i.e., as in Nøgne Ø) Yamahai Muroka Junmai [SMV -4, 16% abv] - good junmai character, quite full and sweet, and much to his chagrin, very clean. He likes his drink funky, does Kjetil.

Hadakajima Yamahai Nigori Nama Junmai [SMV -3] - Kjetil said that at bottling, this was 17% abv, but he thinks it's gone up. LOTS of sediment, coarsely filtered, with... some sediment added back?! Again, very clean, and chewy.

Hadakajima Yamahai Genshu Muroka Shiboritate Nama Junmai [SMV -6, 19% abv] - I wouldn't call this powerful or really terribly amino-acid driven, but it is full-ish, and has a nice bitter "stop" at the back of the mid-palate. It might be a little bit short, but all in all, nicely balanced, and a massive success for a first batch.

Norway, sake's next new frontier?