Sake Honjozo Otokayama Raijin - 72cl

Sake Honjozo Otokoyama Raijin from the sakagura Otokoyama Shuzo is a Japanese rice fermented sake strongly linked to its land of origin, the Yamagata Prefecture. It is a sake of the Honjozo category, a type that requires at least 70% rice husking, as with Junmai. The difference lies in the fact that Honjozo allows the addition of a small amount of alcohol to the brew, resulting in a sake with more body and structure. In particular, Otokoyama Shuzo's Honjozo Raijin is brewed with only Dewa Sansan rice, a large-grain variety native to Yamagata Prefecture, where it is the most popular rice.

Otokoyama Shuzo Sake Raijin Honjozo is derived from only rice of the Dewa Sansan variety grown within Yamagata Prefecture. The grains are polished to a dehulling degree of 60% and then subjected to the steaming process. The water, which comes from underground streams over 100 metres deep and fed by cold springs from the nearby Zao Mountains, is characterised by itsabundant mineral content, which is the basis of the dry and refreshing flavour of this sake. Once the complex fermentation process is complete, a small amount of agricultural alcohol is added, an operation that precedes pressing and pasteurisation, the latter being carried out for a very short time in order not to alter the sake's sensory characteristics.

Otokoyama Shuzo's Honjozo Sake Raijin has a transparent appearance. The nose offers fresh hints of summer fruit that meet pleasant lactic hints. The taste is dry and soft, surprisingly refreshing, with a pleasantly umami and bitterish aftertaste.