Dassai is a well-established sake brewery in Yamaguchi, Japan. Dassai Blue is an enlargement of the model into the U.S. the place earlier this 12 months they opened a big, bold new brewery in Hyde Park, New York. Though constructed upon the expertise of Dassai, the brand new brewery is creating its personal line of sake, and right now we can be attempting two of them, Kind 50 and Kind 23. Each are Junmai Daigingo, sometimes the most costly grade of sake, which implies they’re brewed utilizing rice that has been very effectively polished and embrace no components or extra alcohol. The quantity on every of the sakes refers to how polished the rice is that’s used to make it. The rice for Kind 50 has been polished all the way down to 50% of its unique measurement (50% is the minimal requirement for a sake to be Daigingo). Kind 23 makes use of rice polished all the way down to 23% of its unique measurement and in consequence is of course costlier. Each are at present made with rice imported from Japan, however there are plans to start utilizing American rice within the close to future. All different points of manufacturing are constructed upon meticulous Japanese practices however are completed on the new brewery. Let’s open them up and see how they evaluate to sake imported from Japan.

Dassai Blue Kind 50 Junmai Daigingo Sake – The nostril opens with a little bit of licorice earlier than bursting with daring, ripe, nearly musty cantaloupe, adopted by exhausting pineapple sweet. The palate follows go well with with extra cantaloupe, candy pineapple, and, on the end, a really faint umami notice with only a trace of brine. The sake begins a bit candy however grows much less in order you’re employed by means of the glass. I attempted this sake chilly after which sizzling, and it labored effectively each methods. The assertiveness of the nostril and palate goes past what’s typical for sake and appears designed to enchantment to American drinkers, however it’s completed fairly effectively, and I believe this could be a wonderful introduction to sake for freshmen: inexpensive, approachable, and scrumptious. A- / $25

Dassai Blue Kind 23 Junmai Daigingo Sake – This sake is clearly associated to the Kind 50, however comes throughout is softer. The nostril reveals engaging honeydew, Asian pear, and cucumber notes, together with a lightweight whiff of licorice. The palate introduces frivolously salted honeydew, with cucumber arriving midpalate and a wisp of umami showing on the end. This can be a complicated, well-integrated sake that’s much less assertive than Kind 50, however nonetheless reveals itself as fairly daring. A / $72

dassai.com

Dassai Blue Kind 23 Junmai Daigingo Sake

$72