An unofficial guide to Yamaguchi Prefecture and its nihonshu
I could have sworn that I had posted before about the Kikisake Ressha, which runs from Iwakuni Station up into the mountains along the Nishiki River, ending at Nishiki-cho, but I can't find it, so I guess this is my first! As mentioned, the train follows the course of the Nishiki river, which is Yamaguchi's... Continue Reading →
The official release date of Discovering Yamaguchi Sake is here!
Two more quality josen from Yamaguchi's local sake breweries.
Why, yes! I do, still have a blog! I am a documented fan of futsushu, the humble king of Japan's sake industry. This reasonably priced, mass-market sake might not get a lot of headlines, but it still accounts for over 60% of all the sake made and sold in Japan. Many--most--sake breweries make futsushu as... Continue Reading →
Things seem to have slipped by unnoticed for a while, haven't they? The age of corona is changing all kinds of things, and my approach to sake is certainly one of them. The complete cancellation of sake events all over Japan and the overall drop in sales has led to all kinds of complications for... Continue Reading →
So, what's new, y'all? Yeah. I guess it's probably clear that what with all that's been going on, my blogging has fallen by the wayside. I would apologize, but come on... It's a global pandemic. At the same time, I am still whiling away my time learning about and drinking sake, so I imagine other... Continue Reading →
Rather than do a regular old tasting note, review, or event update, I thought I'd take a look back at what this year was like for me in my sake journey. 2019 was a fairly big sake year for me. I led my first tasting class back in January, and did my first work translating... Continue Reading →
I was sorely tempted to title this review "And now for something completely different" but I'm trying to avoid cliches. Anyway, this is... Something completely different. Joker Bourbon Barrel, Seimeibuai 70%, Alcohol 30% Joker is from Murashige Shuzo, the Iwakuni kura responsible for the very good Kinkan Kuromatsu sake label, but I would hesitate to... Continue Reading →
One interesting thing I'm noticing lately about the general Yamaguchi sake boom (this is the only prefecture in Japan where sake sales have gone up every year for the last 11 years) is that local people are taking more notice of these great Yamaguchi brews, too. It's not just Dassai, either. I'm seeing shops advertising... Continue Reading →
This is a blast from the past for me, as it's one of the first sakes I tried when I was just getting into the drink 10 or so years ago. It was the premier label of Yamagata Honten back then, before Moriko and Bochozuru, and when I visited the kura I had some straight... Continue Reading →
Yamaguchi Sake 