Sake Season – ‘Tis The Reason!

Don’t forget you! Yup! In this very crazy holiday season let’s not forget A Numero Uno! The Royal Me! But wait! Isn’t that selfish? Shouldn’t we focus on family and friends? Shouldn’t we focus on colleagues and associates? You bet! Don’t forget to tell them all how much you appreciate and value their existence. Lavish them! That’s a given! Gift the crap out of them. And make sure that sake is part of that gifting process! I do! (Yes, all of my kids’ teachers love the holidays because it means sake season) But this is missing a small part. This is missing the part that makes this whole thing work. You are missing you!

This holiday season remind yourself how awesome you are, and how much you truly do to keep that ship moving forward on those different types of seas! You are the engine. You are the catalyst. It’s easy to forget that. So don’t! This holiday season make an effort to do one simple thing for yourself. Knock yourself out! Do something that screams indulgent. Do something that you can gloat over. And make that something sake!

You like sake. You do. That’s why you are reading this rag. So why not pull that “me” trigger on a killer bottle of sake that you “Always wanted to try, but never wanted to splurge that much for.” It’s here. It’s now! There is no better time to try something that is off the charts amazing for an off the charts amazing person. You totally deserve it! Why the heck not? Seriously! Of course you won’t appreciate this wonderful gift to yourself by yourself? Will you? Or maybe you should! How indulgent is that? Or pick a sake buddy and have a special occasion that revolves around you!

So what would I recommend for this blessing to you from you? What follows is not a list per se rather it is a collection of awesomeness. Herewith find several selections that would do you proud – literally and figuratively. These are sakes of note that have a home in every sake lover’s heart, and they are exactly what you deserve. And that’s what I’m telling ya! You deserve a bottle of this! You really do! Happy Holidays and thank you for not forgetting you!

You Are Awesome!– Kouro Junmai Ginjo

• Truly pound for pound one of the best sakes ever made. Talk about balance in a bottle. They invented one of the top selling sake brewing yeasts for a reason, and this sake is that reason. $75/720ml

You Are Brilliant! –
Born “Wing of Japan”

• This brewery that is famous for making Daiginjo sake has a lot of offerings! But we carry the ones that we feel rule! And “The Wing” is one of those sakes that just screams Daiginjo category! You are very smart for taking this brew under your wing. $142/720ml

You Are Super! –
Hakurakusei Zankyo “Super 8”

• Yes! It’s super, because the milling rate is 8%! They toss 92% of each grain of rice to make one of the most celebrated and pampered sakes in the history of the sake industry! This bottle sells for 4K in Vegas! $1,500/720ml

You are Fantastic! – Dassai “Beyond”

• If you are the hottest sake brewery in the world, what do you do for an encore? You go Beyond! And that is exactly what this prodigious brewery has done by making one of the most sought after crazy insane sakes on the market. This is what it looks like on the other side of way over the top. $750/720ml

You Are Wise! – Houraisen “Kuu”

• The packaging is okay, but certainly not superb. Heck – it doesn’t even have a box! But it does rock. This brew has a cult following of sake lovers who swear off all other Daiginjo sakes, because nothing is better than Kuu! $95/720ml

You Are Stunning! –Kaika “Tobindori”

• Truly one of the best packaged sakes in the business, and for good reason! This is a mini version of a much larger bottle that is used to collect the best part of a vat of sake. So it’s very appropriate to have the best in the best! $161/720ml

You Are One Of A Kind! – Kikuhime “BY”

• Some breweries are known for one thing, but they actually do another thing very well! Say hello to one of the “those” type of sakes. I am an unabashed lover of this brew, and have been quoted that I want to be embalmed in this sake when I stop ticking! $161/720ml

You Are Sharp! – Kirinzan “Kagayaki”

• A lot of premium sakes taste the same. Pretty damn premium! Almost safe! But this brew from Niigata has bite! It has a twang of alcohol that is sharp and exciting! It walks the talk for cutting Daiginjo sake. $173/720ml

You Are The Best! –
Koshi No Kanbai “Chotokusen”

• There was a day when customers would buy this bottle and take it back to Japan in their luggage, because they simply could not get it. This brewery used to be the “it” brewery in Japan, and this sake “used to be” the “it” sake. Funny thing is it still is! $90/500ml

You Are Wonderful! –
Kotsuzumi “Rojo Hana Ari”

• This used to be the most expensive sake in the store, and I purposely would not sell it to anybody who did not deserve to taste it! Huh? I used to say that you can always take an elevator to the top of Everest, but would you appreciate the view as much as somebody who risk their life trying to get up there? $135/720ml

You Rock! –
Wakatake “Onna Nakase”

• The name of this brew is "sake that is so good it makes women cry"! Men too! You’ve had the other Wakatake. Now it’s time to have the brew that is rarely released outside of Shizuoka Prefecture. Yes we have contacts! So use them! $57/720ml

You Rule! –
Daishichi “Myoka Rangyoku”

• I once did a very “big” magazine interview in Japan, and they interviewed me at this brewery. The owner of the brewery poured this sake for me to “get reviewed.” Do you think he poured an average sake? No chance! This is one of the most premium and widely respected sakes in the entire sake world. And it’s pretty damn cool! $525/720ml