In my review of Kawashima Brewery, I mentioned how they are proud of their special underflow water coming from deep inside the Hira Mountains. Water is of course a crucial component of sake as a finished sake consists of around 80% water. Therefore, breweries in Japan are competing with each other in trying to highlight how special their water is.
However, among the products of Kawashima Brewery, there is one sake that was not made with the local water of the brewery. Instead, in what is possibly a unique experiment in the Japanese sake world, deep seawater from Canadian glaciers was used to make a special Junmai-shu that is the subject of today’s review.
Without even learning about its unique selling point, this sake immediately impresses with its striking design: a transparent ice blue bottle of 500 ml that gives off a cooling vibe. You can almost tell that you will drink a refreshing sake just with a glance at the bottle, and such assumption is not misplaced.
Like their other Junmai, Kawashima has used their local sake rice tamasakae, polished down to 60% in this Junmai. On the nose, we have potent rice notes, but more like fresh rice instead of steamed rice. This freshness is further accentuated by a sea-air-like aroma wafting off the clear yet yellow-ish sake, a color that might indicate the sake is unfiltered.
Given the nose and the vibe from the bottle, I expect a refreshing taste from this sake and it does not prove me wrong. On the palate, this is one of the crispest and fresh sake I have ever tasted. A solid flavor of rice is there, but it is enveloped by a briny freshness. This is a very dry sake, with an exceptionally clean flavor profile. The refreshing aspect is helped by a decent amount of acidity, creating a balanced structure. The special glacier water used proves itself to be more than a simple gimmick, as it makes its presence felt.
While this Junmai offers a clean and refreshing taste, there is not much else going on here in terms of flavor. It is fair to say this sake lacks the complexity and richness of flavor found in outstanding examples of Junmai sake. Yet, it definitely deserves a taste due to its unique character and might really impress the fans of dry and clean sake.
Conclusion: Good. Although the sea-like briny freshness of this sake would make it a natural match with sashimi, I think pairing it with salty fish such as canned sardines in olive oil would work wonders.
Price: 1571 Yen / 500 ml. Available for sale online for those in Japan.
