「仕事の為に」城陽酒造のラインナップとして最高峰に鎮座する２つのお酒を飲み比べ。
「純米大吟醸40雫酒」名前の通り上槽を袋搾りで仕上げた逸品です。蔵元から「醪を入れた酒袋から一滴、二滴と自然のままに滴り落ちる雫のみを集めた杜氏の全精魂を打ち込んだ極上の一本」とのコメントの通り、お酒にストレスを与えずに時間をかけて醸された雫酒は、想像を超えるスムーズなテクスチャーを楽しめます。兵庫県産山田錦を40％まで磨いたテイストは、上品な吟醸香と角の無いなめらかで透き通った旨味が素敵です。山葵を効かせた天然本マグロの赤身との組合せが絶妙でした。生鰹に茗荷と根生姜の組合せでは「京都の酒だなー！」と一人頷く私。
「美感遊創」兵庫県産特等山田錦を100％使用以外の全てのスペックが非公開。ナイショで蔵元にに問い合わせましたが「非公開なので教えられません(T-T)」このお酒のポリシーは、スペック等の枠にとらわれずに先入観無く、自由な感性でお酒を嗜んで欲しいと願いを込め、蔵元の「いま現在持ち得る全ての技術とアイデアを集結」し醸したとのこと。香りと味わいは限りなく上品で清廉。甘味・旨味・酸味が驚く程の高いレベルでバランスされています。お酒(の価格)に合わせて長崎産の天然岩牡蠣と楽しみました。岩牡蠣の濃厚な味と香りについて行けるのか？と思いましたが、美感遊創の控えな雰囲気が一変。クリーミーこの上ない岩牡蠣の味・香りとお酒が溶け合い絶妙なハーモニーを魅せます。脂のしっかり乗ったカンパチの刺身も同様。脂と溶け合うだけで無くお酒がしっかりとした旨味を”支える”感覚を楽しめました。
今回は味わいの違いをお客様にお伝えするために敢えての飲み比べでしたが、雫酒・美感遊創ともに完成されたバランスのお酒ですので、それぞれを美味しい肴と共に味わって頂きたいです。
たまには良いお酒を飲まないと、ね。仕事の為に・・・・・。
—English as follows—
Premium Tasting: “Bikan Yuso”, Joyo’s Best of Best vs “Junmai Daiginjo 40 Shizuku”, Best of Joyo Shuzo Gorgeously, we tasted our very TOP 2 super premium sake, “Bikan Yuso” and “Shizuku” from Joyo Shuzo, brewery in Kyoto.
First, let us describe on tasting “Shizuku(drip)”, Junmai Daiginjo (milling rate is 40%). This “Shizuku” is surely defined as “stress-free” sake, as dripped out from bags of “Moromi (rice mash)”, not as usually pressed by machine. Surely, “No machine press, No stress on Sake”, that is literally means it’s super smooth on its texture.
“Drip after drip, naturally falling down from Moromi bags”, according to Joyo Shuzo, gravity encourages the sake drip to get bottled, “as if all the drip got collected and merged with all the devoted from “Toji”, the Brewery Master”.
This “treasure” by gravity gives us more than elegant texture, smoother than ever. Of course, this silky touch goes beyond our expectation. Very sophisticated taste of “Yamada Nisihiki”, the highest classed sake rice in Hyogo pref., mesmerizes us further, for enjoying ourselves with demure aroma and transparently silky “Umami”.
As a food partner of this sake, we chose tuna, rather lean part “Akami” than fatty part “Toro”, with “Wasabi (Japanese horseradish)” on, as giving amazing match.
Plus, as another food partner, we picked up raw bonito, that goes perfectly well, especially with ginger or rather “Myoga (Japanese ginger) on.
YES, this is the definite KYOTO Sake, convinced by this perfect match.
Secondly, we tasted “Bikan Yuso”, the Best of Best, of Joyo Shuzo. This Sake doesn’t have any info of sake specification revealed, only telling us that Yamada Nishiki are used, 100% from Hyogo. That’s all. The others, except info of its rice, are undisclosed, because Joyo Shuzo knows that we, sake lovers, tend to imagine Sake taste, its aroma and even its aftertaste from the specification written on the labels of Sake and they never want us to taste Bikan Yuso with so-called prejudice coming from what label says.
Joyo Shuzo just recommend us to taste this as our five senses would go. They just want us to enjoy this Sake, that is of all the Joyo technique and ideas.
For its food paring, we chose raw “Iwagaki (rock oyster)”, wild caught big ones from Nagasaki, as supposed to be deserved with the Best of Best Sake, in price wise, as well.
This Best of Best, Bikan Yuso is very sophisticatedly well-balanced in palates, and its impression is rather demure, when it comes to alone.
However.
This big milky oyster dramatically uncovered the Sake, revealing to be the bold while the demure part got behind. This sake full-fledgedly shows its true colors, giving flamboyantly rich taste and aroma, merging with those of oysters, while remaining perfect harmony in its paring of this Sake and milk-rich Iwagaki oyster.
In addition, as another paring try, we had sashimi of fatty “kanpachi (greater amberjack)”, paired with this Bikan Yuso. That has also gone perfect, as the fish fat get melted with sake, getting into one, well-mixed with umami of sake and fish. We see some different faces of this sake, impressed differently with different food partners. What a beautiful surprise.
We have No intension to rank between Shizuku and Bikan Yuso, as each is respectively so sophisticated, of course. We do hope you to taste this perfect balance as your senses would go and have amazing fun.
Excuses: we have tasted the top-ranked sake today for our business JUST IN CASE of detailly explaining the sake impressions to our customers. And we guess we do need this much more often for our training. So…, we should have another bottle, soon. 🙂
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