I have to say to lately I am proud of the quality of our Shinsei Dassai series (i.e. Shinsei Dassai 23 and Shinsei Dassai 45). First of all, they come in with a beautiful aroma, but the taste on the palate is full of complex layers that I think will win you over.
This sake’s creation was first suggested by Dr. Ochiya, who used to be the head of research at the National Cancer Center in Tsukiji (Tokyo) and is now a professor at Tokyo Medical University, where he is involved in research. (A recent discovery featured in Nikkei stated that we could distinguish severe cases of COVID-19 by looking at exosomes contained in the blood stream.)
Sake is said to “be the best of all medicines” (old Japanese saying), but with the development of technology, we've moved away from that. However, even though I don't want to give up on the great taste of modern sake, I wondered if it would be possible to bring back the ancient power of fermentation in Dassai.
It was with this in mind that the development of the Shinsei Dassai began. As a sake producer, I felt the pangs of conscience: I had to bring this kind of sake to the world, despite the fact that I cannot explain or say what is in it. I had to bring it to the market, even though it would hardly sell at all.
It was with this in mind that the development of the Shinsei Dassai began. The brewery's conscience was to bring this kind of sake to the world, and despite the fact that they could not explain what was in it, and therefore could not sell it, they decided to bring it to market.
However, I was not satisfied with the initial result of the sake quality. Shinsei Dassai, along with Shinsei Amazake, are a focus on the various changes that occur during the fermentation process. However, because this focus is inevitably during the fermentation process, it is difficult to achieve a balance in taste profile.
The usual Dassai sake is, particularly lately, really well balanced so the coarseness of Shinsei Dassai is more apparent. The beginnings of Shinsei Dassai showed very clean sake, especially the initial taste, but in the middle of the bottle the coarseness of Shinsei Dassai became bitter and bitter, and this just broke the overall balance.
I suppose my staff started to think, "What more do you want us to do?” But as I am quite oblivious to what my staff think, I just gave them a lot of flak. The result was that they actually managed to take the roughness out to turn it into a sophisticated complexity.
Again, I am quite proud of Shinsei Dassai 23 and 45, please give them a try. For those who don't drink alcohol, please try the Shinsei Amazake.