Since 2019, I want to import a super-duper Junmai Daiginjo from Sado Island produced with all the rice and only the rice of a single paddy field. It is grown without herbicides, insecticides or even fertilizers. The result of a cooperation between an organic farm and a craft brewery, 純米大吟醸 上弦の月 Junmai Daiginjo Jôgen no Tsuki (first crescent moon) is very difficult to obtain, even in Japan; all stocks are reserved even before it goes on sale.
My friendship with the master brewer KATO Ichiro allowed me to register among the buyers and to commit myself, as it should, in advance to acquire some. And, we are not committed for a number of cases, but for a part of the production; the amount of sake brewed is directly influenced by to the yield of the rice field, which fluctuates from year to year. So all the buyers share the bottles in proportion to their commitment.
This year, I will be entitled to 36 bottles (720 ml) of Junmai Daiginjo Jôgen no Tsuki and I can't wait to receive them.
It is a delicious autumn sake made from organic Koshi Tanrei rice and purchased directly from the brewery Kato Shuzoten.
The Junmai Daiginjo Jôgen no Tsuki has the fruity aroma of Daiginjo and moderate acidity with the characteristic refreshing aftertaste of Koshitanrei.
In 2023, the packaging changes. Rather than the crescent moon, the shape of the label recalls the silhouette of Mount Kinpoku, the highest mountain in Sado.