“HELLO TARTNESS, MY OLD FRIEND”
“Hello tartness, my old friend,” is either my best or singularly worst title for an article so far. I guess it depends on how much of a Simon & Garfunkel fan you are.
That album comes out every now and again, the paper CD insert is crimped and corrugated by beer from back when I bought it as a student. Yes, a CD, and I went to a physical shop to buy it too. Wow, showing my age here.
Anyway, regardless of whether you like the headline or not, one thing that became abundantly clear is that getting stuck into some Sohomare bottles recently has underlined what I already knew:
I’m a fairly cheap date when it comes to Sake.
The subject of this tasting review, their Tokubetsu (“special”) Honjozo, weighs in at just south of HK$190, that’s for sure at the lower end of the market. Lucky me. Funny thing is, finding a Honjozo here is a task in itself although it’s not all that surprising as Hong Kong has recently stolen the crown of biggest importer by value of Sake. I’m bucking the trend here but it’s really rather good drinking.
In my opinion, shared by many, these “special” category designated Sakes are a great investment. Tokubetsu Junmai and Tokubetsu Honjozo are generally that little bit (and sometimes much) better than the grades below them, yet they aren’t obliged to conform to all the heirs and graces associated with the grades above them, i.e. that Ginjo fanciness.
Keen that I am to always root out a Honjozo, a Tokubetsu Honjozo is like hitting the jackpot. The brewery, in translation, call Tokubestsu a “Sake of a higher class,” which I think is pretty bang on.
Sohomare Shuzo is located in Tochigi Prefecture which is unremarkable for its Sake, sitting in the middle of the Prefectural production table. That said, it has a lot going for it culturally with UNESCO World Heritage must see Nikko (over 100 shrines and temples) and the home of the Gyoza in its capital city, Utsunomiya. On the Nihonshu front, the relatively modern Shimotsuke Toji Guild (established 2006) is based here and generally is made up of renegade producers with independent styles.
Sohomare’s decision to use outmoded Kimoto method rather than modern Sokujo “fast” method for many of its Sakes could well set it amongst these renegades. And this is what I like, a great balance of rustic characteristics matched with an element of refinement.
Great still from a Sohomare YouTube - a break from the stereotypical synchronised pole-ramming image
Hello tartness, my old friend. This Honjozo of theirs is old school textbook Kimoto.
Looking back over my Sake notes that I scrawl in a book next to steamed off, now crumpled, bottle labels it’s quite easy to see which Sakes I like, even before reading what I have written. Any label’s entry with a long doodled list of aromas and flavours tend to be the favoured Sakes, in my opinion.
The Kimoto Tokubetsu Honjozo (生酛仕込 特別本醸造) from Sohomare has a good amount of scribbles around it. Here’s the vital statistics:
The brewery uses Yamada Nishiki rice from Hyogo’s Premium A area as they believe this works best with Kimoto. By using daki-daru (metal barrels of hot water), temperature is controlled to manage the natural lactic acid fermentation. It’s all very hands on and has been since 1872.
So let me decipher my notes on the profound taste of this Sake.
I started drinking this cold, from the fridge, and actually there’s not a lot of profundity on the nose in the beginning. I got just rice, rice flour, maybe a hint of more grains.
On the palate, it’s dry (Karakuchi 辛口) of course, and clean. As it warmed up in the ambient temperature the savouriness started to build. Not so much the meaty broths or ham flavours I sometimes detect but a general umami richness.
Rice intensity grew. I got toasted rice or perhaps even rice simmered in a little stock, but it remains delicate (“Sake of higher class,” as Toji says). That tartness - as alluded to hundreds of words ago - is clearly apparent but not to the point of any puckered cheeks or squeaking teeth. It’s there though, a typical expression of Kimoto wildness.
There are no pretences here, the main flavour is one of concentrated rice, yet it still maintains a delicate touch, despite that polite slap of tartness and perhaps a hint at more alcohol than the 15% ABV would suggest.
At this point I warmed it up to 45°C, in line with Toji’s recommendation. I wish I had done a day’s physical work as it felt like I was drinking a down and dirty (in a good way) Sake. Had my day been manly enough for this? Not really. The acidity is up, it’s become somehow creamier and thicker, it coats the mouth. Maybe I should have cranked up the AC unit to get more benefit allowing me to huddle around my Guinomi.
The smoothness remains though, and I detected a little honeyed note, but not sweet at all. At this point I was craving a big hunk of white fish, cod or turbot, lightly steamed with ginger and soy until it breaks apart into sticky flakes. Mind you, the Sake could handle some oily fish too, simmered in miso perhaps. Now I’m hungry.
There you have it, Sohomare Kimoto Tokubetsu Honjozo. A friend for life.
FOOTNOTE:
An aside here, take a look at that label and how it takes 惣譽 (Sohomare) to another level.
And, thankfully for us amateur Japanese speakers the Kanji are iconic enough to be memorable so you get the best of both worlds with a traditional label that still stands out on shelf. It’s rather good.
LINKS:
Sohomare Sake Brewery Co., Ltd.
www.sohomare.co.jp
@sohomare
info@sohomare.co.jp
539 Kamine, Ichikai-machi, Haga-gun, Tochigi-ken 321-3424, Japan
Tel: +81 (0)285 68 1141
QUICK GLOSSARY:
Tokubetsu 特別: Simply means “special” and identifies that a special production process was applied to a Junmai or Honjozo category Sake. More often than not it designates that a lower rice polishing rate than required took place
Honjozo 本醸造: Sake made from rice at a polishing ratio below 70%
Junmai 純米: Sake made using only rice, water, yeast and koji – no added alcohol (純: pure; 米: rice)
Ginjo 吟醸: Sake made from rice at a polishing ratio below 60%
Shuzo: Sake brewery. Often added to the company name e.g. Morikawa Shuzo
Nihonshu: Sake in Japanese refers to all alcoholic beverages so to make the differentiation clearer, Sake is also called Nihonshu (日本酒)
Toji: Master Brewer with ultimate responsibility for brewing and the leadership of the brewing team
Kimoto 生酛: Kimoto is a style of Sake that uses the original yeast starter method laboriously created using long paddles to promote natural lactic acid development
Sokujo: Modern “fast” yeast starter method whereby lactic acid is added directly to the yeast starter allowing the process to finish in 2 weeks
Daki-daru: A sealable metal bucket, with handle, which is filled with either hot or cold water. It is then placed into the starter tank and routinely stirred to quickly bring the mash temperature up or down
Karakuchi 辛口: Basically “dry”
Guinomi: A style of Sake drinking vessel
