The Beau-Zone Layer
Narutotai Mizu & Kome “Rice & Water”
From Tokushima Prefecture. Junmai Genshu. SMV: -1 Acidity: 1.4
This sake screams, “I am different!” From the moment that I don’t know when I tasted it to the moment that I retried it this brew is so tasty but also so unusual! Huh? Yup, I tasted this sake two years ago in Japan for the IWC. It won a gold medal for the Junmai category, and I mentioned it to the importer when I saw the results because I love the brewery! But, I didn’t remember tasting it because it was a blind tasting! So I didn’t really recall the exact flavor. And yet, I was smart enough to inform the importer that it won Gold so he did us a favor by importing it for True Sake. So what makes a sake unusual? Well certainly unique features like flavor and feeling. But there are also other categories like “never tasted a sake like this before.”
The name of the sake is Mizu & Kome, which means it features the two main ingredients, which is basically what all sake makers do with all sakes! But! I have never tasted a sake that both flavors stand so separately and well together. You literally can sip the rice and taste the water in one try. It’s truly amazing! This brew is a great lesson sake that reminds us that we are dealing with fermented rice and water, but in this case the reminder is so damn tasty!