Sake All-Star! World Sake Day On-nomi #32

Event Summary: 

For the 32th theartofsake Sake On-nomi, we are celebrating another year of World Sake Day with our All-Star sakes!

So what is World Sake Day all about and why are we celebrating it?

It's a tribute to Japanese Sake as October 1 is traditionally the start of sake production in the country. Sake rice is also harvested in October, when the weather gets colder and becomes more ideal for brewing good sake.

In Japanese, a rooster is “niwatori” in romaji, and is written as “鶏” in kanji. In the Japanese Zodiac, however, it is often called “tori” and is written as “酉”, and is used to represent the month of October. As you can see, 酉 is also the word for alcohol!

Why Dassai?

This would be the first time we are using Dassai for our on-nomi events. We also do not carry this brand on the site! However, we thought that it would be fun to bring in everyone's familiar commercial brand, Dassai, into the picture to compare with other boutique, luxurious and famous brands like Dashichi and Juyondai.

Dassai is renowned luxury sake brand that uses 25% of all Yamadanishiki rice produced in Hyogo!  Dassai 's heir had actually taken up apprenticeship Nihonsakari Brewery (an all familiar brand that we carry at theartofsake.com) for a few years to learn from them! After returning, he made the choice to only brew top-end sakes. In other words, only Junmai Daiginjo grade and only Yamadanishiki rice from Hyogo Prefecture! He did away with Toji (head brewer) and just followed a set of recipes closely to maintain consistency. Lastly, they automate most processes of brewing sake to increase the quantity output. 

It is interesting to note that there was a surge in demand for Dassai in the post-pandemic world, as they did not expect the world to rebound so quickly. As a result, there was a lapse in forecast on their end to plant enough Yamadanishiki rice to meet their commercial demand. 

Here are the poll results for the most favourite sake of the night!

21:04:02 From W.E.: Everyone likes sillky texture
21:04:20 From T.N : eiken is v interestingly soft
21:04:35 From JL : yay!! eikun ftw
21:05:06 From J.C : Eikun is a deserving winner. Very elegant
21:05:18 From M.M. : YES!

Eikun Junmai Daiginjo Ichigin
The overall winner of the night was from the Kyoto Prefecture. Such elegant sake could only be possible with the soft waters of Fushimi. With the classy smell of apple, anise and a hint of banana, the soft velvety sake had a "Kirei" finish that quietly stole everyone's hearts!

Manotsuru Daiginjo Maho
Just shy of 1 vote, we have a dazzling Competition Sake with 7-8 gold medals! This sake has a balance of all 5 primary tastes and it is extremely complex with apple, melon, spice, anise, a bit of pepper. Definitely stealing the thunder of other sakes. 

Juyondai Nadadori Daiginjo Banshu Yamadanishiki
Again, coming really close, we have the "Culty" Cult sake, Juyondai. It smells intensely of fruits, syrup and honey. If there's one word to describe Juyondai Sakes in general, it's "Juicy". It's interesting to note that Juyondai sake is extremely difficult to obtain and the brewery is extremely selective about who they supply to. Enjoy the rarity while it lasts!

Daishichi Junmai Daiginjo Shoka 

This brewery has a very different philosophy from other breweries where their "normal sakes" are aged at least 3 years as they believe that it will boost its mellowness and complexity. This is unusual because most of the time, sakes are made to be drunk as young as possible. They also insist on brewing sakes using Kimoto method, where they stir the moromi mash with a long wooden pole and wait for the natural lactic acid bacteria to come in. It's very labour intensive but they have a Japanese saying that roughly translates to "If you chop down more trees (to speed up the work), you're no longer able to see the full forest." This is the complete opposite of Dassai, that automates most of the brewing process. 

Dassai Junmai Daiginjo 23 

Finally, we have Dassai 23 with plenty of floral aroma and candied notes and a decent finish. It's a great sake but it's definitely not the end-all be-all for sake, but rather the gateway to the world of high quality sake!

Last but not least, congratulations to "Dassai Dan" for winning our lucky draw for Manotsuru Daiginjo Maho 1800ml worth $328. 

Thank you for celebrating with us and once again, happy World Sake Day to you!

Cheers, 
Sayuri Lim

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Join our On-nomi #32, happening on the 29th September 2021, 8pm, on Zoom, to celebrate World Sake Day and savour the best sakes in the market with us !

To spice things up, we will also be hosting a live lucky draw during our zoom event to give away 01 bottle of Manotsuru Daiginjo Maho 1800ml worth $328 to one lucky winner!

Your Sake On-nomi set will include:

1) a sake tasting flight of 5 x 70ml bottles
2) a placemat containing sake tasting notes and Zoom details 
3) an hour's session with our in-house educator, Adrian Goh
4) an entry** to our lucky draw on zoom

Sake Selection: 
1) Dassai Junmai Daiginjo 23 
2) Eikun Junmai Daiginjo Ichigin
3) Daishichi Junmai Daiginjo Shoka
4) Manotsuru Daiginjo Maho 
5) Juyondai Nakadori Daiginjo Banshu Yamadanishiki

**Lucky Draw T&C:
1) The lucky draw will be conducted during the zoom meeting for participants residing in Singapore via https://wheelofnames.com/ 
2) One on-nomi set = one entry
3) Your lucky draw number is the four digit Order Number when you place an order with us e.g. #1212
4) If you place more than 1 set in the same order, the entries will be reflected by alphabets. E.g. Order number #1234, 2 sets. Lucky draw entry will be "#1234-A" & #1234-B"
5) In the event where the winner of the lucky draw does not respond/ is not present in the zoom meeting, the winning entry will be forfeited and a redraw will take place.
7) Only Self Collection of the prize is available, within 2 weeks from the event's date at our office during working hours. Contact us at Whatsapp +65 88550073 for any enquiries 

Don't miss another event, stay tuned at https://theartofsake.com/collections/ira-sake-onnomi

Our Previous Sake On-nomi:

Sake On-nomi #31 - Mid-Autumn Sake Pairing
Sake On-nomi #30 - Sake of the Mountain Peak
Sake On-nomi #29 - SG Childhood Snacks and Sake Pairing
Sake On-nomi #28 - Beginner's Guide to Japanese Sake
Sake On-nomi #27 - World Chocolate Day with Sake 
Sake On-nomi #26 - Royals of the Sake World 
Sake On-nomi #25 - Sake and Snacks Party with DDDK!
Sake On-nomi #24 - Dreams of Hourai-zon 
Sake On-nomi #23 - "Sake Warming!"
Sake On-nomi #22 - Rebloom of Sakari 
Sake On-nomi #21 - The Art of Sake x Lion City Meadery 
Sake On-nomi #20 - Celebrate CNY with Sake!
Sake On-nomi #19 - Gozenshu: Brewery of Ancient Style
Sake On-nomi #18- Taste Of Manotsuru
Sake On-nomi #17 - Juyondai Vertical Tasting
Sake On-nomi #16 Cheese & Sake Pairing
Sake On-nomi #15 Toko Virtual Tour
Sake on-nomi #14 Seasonal Sake
Sake On-nomi #13 Daiginjo Kanpai for World Sake Day
Sake On-nomi #12 Chocolate Sake Pairing
Sake On-nomi #11 Guess the Daiginjo
Sake On-nomi #10 Sake Rice Selection
Sake On-nomi #9 - Aged Ham with Sake Pairing
Sake On-nomi #8 - Japanese Sake GI
Sake On-nomi #7 - Cheese with Sake Pairing
Sake On-nomi #6 - Namazake Selection
Sake On-nomi #5 - Sake Blind Tasting
Sake On-nomi #4 - Premium Daiginjo Selection
Sake On-nomi #3 - Unique Style Selection
Sake On-nomi #2 - Niigata Sake Selection
Sake On-nomi #1 - Dewazakura from Yamagata