Hiyaoroshi PART 3!!!

Continuing on my Hiyaoroshi binge...
Great fall brews are popping up everywhere!
This time we are going to take a trip (an imaginary trip) down to Akita Prefecture to visit our friends at Akita Seishu.

Makers of Kariho (刈穂) and Dewatsuru (出羽鶴), made an appearance at the sake tasting event the other day, Akita Seishu is throwing down all the stops in this years Hiyaoroshi, definitely a must drink!

Kariho / 刈穂

Yamahai Junmai Hiyaoroshi / 山廃純米冷卸

Alcohol: 16% / Polish: 60%

SMV: +3

Akita Seishu / Akita Prefecture

Tasting notes:

On the nose: Big nose with lots of sweet honey and over ripe banana rounded by a sharpness to the nose and hints of rice.

On the palate: Light to medium bodied, honey and banana notes continue, but are far less prominent. Comes off sweet at first, but finishes quite dry. Not as round a mouth feel as I was expecting.

* Above tasting notes were done in a white wine glass, I later switched to a smaller "Sake cup." The result was a much mellower nose, a much rounder mouth feel and smoother finish.

Other notes:

• I didn't play around too much with the temperature of this brew but I wouldn't be surprised if it drinks really well at room temp or luke warm.
• The difference between the white wine glass and the sake cup was really big and I was thoroughly  surprised at what a huge difference just changing the cup can do to the flavor of the sake. This was a real learning experience for me, and in the boom of "drink your sake from a white wine glass," I offer these words of advice: White wine glasses are not always better.
• This is a textbook example (although much tastier than a textbook) of a yamahai sake, and would be well paired with heartier foods, although not overly heavily flavored foods, as well as tangy foods like sweet and sour.
• This sake is available in both the 1.8L and 720ml bottle size.

Thats it for this installment, I'll keep drinking if you keep reading.

(Thats a lie... I'll keep drinking no matter what you do)

Cheers

Meishu no Yutaka staff

Carlin