Dassai 23 Junmai Daiginjo Sake 300ml // 3 Pack

This Junmai Daiginjo Sake was born from a single challenge - polishing Yamada Nishiki rice to the limit of limits - 23% remaining of the original rice grain, the highest rice milling of any commercial sake.

The nose presents an irresistibly elegant flowery bouquet with a soft, delicate, honey-like sweetness, and the flavor blooms exquisitely in your mouth. The long finish is a gentle waterfall of flavor that hits the center of your palate and dissipates into bliss-like mists, begging for another sip.

94 points, Decanter Magazine: “From Japan’s far west beyond Hiroshima, Dassai produces only junmai daiginjo in three main styles; 23, 39 and 50, reflecting their respective polishing ratios. This lovely aromatic daiginjo displays plenty of intense, fragrant floral and melon notes, fresh without the unpasteurised zing of nama sake. It is smooth and richly flavoured with melon, pear, peach and touches of coconut and cinnamon. There is a lovely rich texture and elegant, long dry finish."

Robb Report, "Haute Sake": "Junmai Daiginjo, the variety of sake in which Asahi Shuzo specializes, requires a labor-intensive brewing process and is therefore expensive to make. To perfect its crown jewel, Dassai 23, which is brewed exclusively from the highly prized yamada nishiki rice, Asahi Shuzo spent several years investing in costly technologies and experimenting with the traditional methods that many other producers have abandoned."

For sake to be designated as Junmai Daiginjo, the rice grains used in its manufacture must be milled down to at least 50 percent of their original size prior to fermentation. This process removes proteins and fat along with the rice husk, allowing more nuanced flavors to be expressed in the finished sake. In the case of Dassai 23, which is priced from $85 for a 300 mL bottle to $185 for a 720 mL bottle, nearly 80 percent of the grain is milled, a number un¬matched by any other commercial product.

The resulting opalescent pearls impart the sake’s rich signature bouquet, which has all the layered grace of a grand cru white Burgundy. Dassai 23’s compelling depth and complexity have made fans of many culinary luminaries and encouraged some of them to play with pairings that venture far afield of sushi-dominated orthodoxy. The chef Joël Robuchon, for instance, acknowledged that Dassai 23, which should be served chilled, is “the best sake in the world.” Mar 2013