The “Beau-Zone” Layer – Isojiman Honjozo

In honor of the 20th Anniversary of SAKE DAY, I wanted to pick a Beau-Zone sake that reminded me of the good old days and good sake friends. Before 9/11 you could hand carry a boat of sake in your carry-on bags, and at times I would bring up to 20 bottles in overhead luggage. Of course I would always bring things that I didn’t sell here or weren’t exported. One of my favorite breweries that was not exported at that time was Isojiman from Shizuoka, which is known for pristine water and things that need pristine water like ocha (tea), wasabi (root), and nihonshu (sake).  I was in Japan to attend one of John Gauntner’s first Sake Professional Courses and asked him in advance to get me an Issho (1.8L) of Isojiman Honjozo – this sake! 

After completion of John’s Course we had a little team party, where the sake flowed like wine! In our exuberance, John went to open my Issho. But I caught him in time, “Hey, I’m bringing that home, did you open it?” He replied, “No!” Fast forward to when I was 30,000 feet over the Pacific with my yummy bottle of Isojiman in my overhead compartment. Drip. Drip. Drip. I looked up and what appeared to be condensation was dripping through the air vent. And then drip drip two drips fell right on my face as I looked up. Don’t know why, but I licked the top of my upper lip. Hmmmmm? It was sticky and semi-sweet? Huh? I’m embarrassed to say that it took me a few seconds to realize that I was tasting sake, honjozo sake to be specific. I quickly stood up and opened my overhead bin door. And I saw a puddle, as in a standing inch of sake in the bottom of the bin. The pressure had popped the “unopened” stopper off, and the rest is sake lore. But wait there’s more! Jamie Graves, who is the importer of this sake (Skurnik Wines), just reminded me that I mentioned this story to him over and over and he was very excited to bring this brew to the US to get John off the hook! Oh, and it’s excellent sake that drinks way above its price point.  

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