The “Beau Zone Layer” – Hakurakusei “The Connoisseur”

Is there something wrong with the word "easy"? If I say something is easy, is that a slight? Well, truth be told, it is actually very hard to achieve in the sake-making world. Easy sake is code for well-made and balanced sake that is elegant, complex, but simply gentle and fun to drink. Wait what? Are you saying this is simple sake? Oh contraire my friend! This is the hardest sake to make with rice and water. A brewer needs to show massive skills to turn rice and water into a fluid that is juicy, fleshy, “even”, and balanced. Oh, and also tastes great and feels like a silky dream on the palate. The woman (Nanami Watanabe) who made this sake is an award-winning brewer, but more importantly she has done something that no other sake maker has done in 18 years. She is the first brewer to be featured in back-to-back Beau-Zone Layer reviews (last month’s Atago No Matsu Honjozo). That alone should make you want to try this brew and perhaps share it with a sake newbie or a hardcore sake geek. Both the newbie or the geek will have the same smile on their face after that first sip.