Mutsu Hassen Kijoshu 2025

The nose on this masterpiece is an amazing collection of apple, pear, lemonade, yogurt, custard, Lemonheads™, ginger stick, apple cider, and pink grapefruit aromas. Every once in a while, the sake world gets given a gift. As customers of that world, it’s important to heed that call. Kijoshu is a “style” of making sake that uses more sake instead of water in the fermentation process. Using Northern Japan’s Hanafubuki rice milled to 77%, this brew wins the balance battle between sweetness and high working acidity, with a surprising elegance and complexity that is very easy to consume. Medium-bodied, fresh, bright, with lots of glucose, this brew drinks slick, slippery, and almost water-like with many joyous flavors that are buoyed by an underlying umami backbone. Look for apple, candied pear, pink grapefruit, cherry, pineapple, rice candy, pancake, tangerine, cherry tomato, pine needle, and mineral water flavors that gush through the palate with pristine balance and dexterity. WORD: World Class WINE: Dessert Wines BEER: Citrus Ales FOODS: Haute cuisine, caviar, smoked meats, fowl, cheeses, venison, pork chops, oysters, fruit plates, and imagination.