Beau-Zone Layer – Zaku “Kaizan Ittekisui”
Mie Prefecture
Junmai Daiginjo
SMV: N/A Acidity: N/A
So you need a “silver bullet” present to give to a friend or family member, but just can’t figure out what to get? Your search has ended with this outstanding bottle of sake. This is one of those brews that makes you say “How can rice and water taste like this?” This is one of those brews that professionals say “How in the hell do they make this sake?” And this is one of those brews that you buy a bottle as a gift and a second bottle as a reward to yourself for being such a good person. You deserve it. They deserve it. We all deserve Zaku’s Kaizan Ittekisui, because this is as good as you can get in the sake world for that price point. You don’t need Juyondai (more on that later in the newsletter), but there are a ton of similarities in this bottle to the Juyondai body, texture, feel and flavor field. You don’t need rice milled down to 23%, but there are many similarities to a higher refined Junmai Daiginjo that drinks with complexity and depth, all the while being incredibly smooth and velvety. And you certainly don’t need a wooden box or champagne cork stopper, but this sleek black box signals a very cool evening in a little black bottle. I personally love this brewery, because they are all about taste. Every employee aka kurabito tastes 3 to 4 times each shift, so they know their products inside and out. And I once asked the Toji if he likes making Yamahai or Koshu sake, and he made the funniest “disgusted” face and said “hell no!” He is all about making fresh and very refined sake with a plump wine-like acidity that drinks elegant and impactful. And “Kaizan Ittekisui” means continual improvement drop by drop. And that’s why you should gift this brew.