This particular sake has eluded me for a while. It’s from Shunan City’s Nakamura Sakaba, the last local kura on my list, BUT! It is yet another example of a brew labeled and sold by one kura, but made by another. So… Who actually made it? I don’t really know.
This sake is apparently only sold at a single shop, a roadside rest area or Michi-no-Eki called Solene Shunan just off the Tokuyama-Nishi offramp on the Chugoku Expressway. Which, by the way, has a wonderful selection of local sakes. Thus, it’s doubtful many of you reading this will ever get the chance to try it. If you do, though, it’s a very nice sake.
The initial aroma is mild, with notes of pear and peach, with a strong apple undercurrent. The sake lists itself as Karakuchi, and this is one of the most clear examples of that nebulous style I’ve had. It has a very brief note of sweet tree fruit on the first sip, but this soon gives way to a full bodied umami, which finishes with a briefly lingering astringency. A faintly noticeable acidity helps keep the amino acid umami from becoming overpowering, meaning that this is a nicely complex, rich sake.
I’ll be honest, I was not expecting a lot from this one, but I’m glad I tracked it down. The list shrinks again!
Yamaguchi Sake 
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