Ganki This one is also famous, isn’t it? I had been curious about it, but as is often the case, it is not in the store when I want it. This time, I bought it at Hasegawa Sake Shop (Ginza Nihonbashi store).

Today, too, a dusty, solitary drink.

Ganki Junmai Sake
What is a special name?
Ganki Taste evaluation
Snacks

Ganki Junmai Sake

I looked up the brewery. They only make junmai sake. They are particular about not making ginjo-style sake, which is flavored with honjo-style sake.

What is a special name?

Junmai sake is made using nothing but rice, rice malt, and water, and depending on the ratio of these ingredients, junmai sake, junmai ginjo, junmai daiginjo, special junmai sake, and sake without added brewing alcohol are all labeled with this name.

GANKI’s lineup includes only junmai sake. Honjozo, the traditional sake brewing technique in which brewing alcohol is added as a secondary ingredient, is also a traditional sake brewing technique, but we do not require it. We do not need it because we want to focus on extracting the potential of the rice material itself, just as in the case of Ichikizou, where a statue is carved from a single piece of wood. We also do not use activated carbon to filter the finished sake, which is a common practice, but we do not need to do so. This is because we have set ourselves the task of making sure that the finished sake does not require any secondary processing. We do not add or subtract anything unnecessary, but simply face the sake brewing process head-on.
From the official Yaoshin Shuzo website

The history of the brewery seems to be quite old, and according to the trends we have researched so far, sake is often one of the fermented products rather than a specialty. They also seem to make soy sauce and miso.

The same is true of the Yakushin Brewery here.

In 1877, Shinzaburo Yaokiya, the adopted son of Jinbei Yaokiya, who was engaged in various businesses as an official merchant of the Iwakuni-Yoshikawa domain (now called a general trading company), established Yaokushin at the site of a teahouse, a villa of the domain lord located near the mouth of the Nishiki River. The “Hikifuda,” which remains today, describes the business activities at the time of the establishment. According to the “Hikifuda,” while the main business of “Yaokijin” was soy sauce brewing, Shinzaburo’s main business was sake brewing. At the same time, Shinzaburo continued the soy sauce production and developed various businesses. One of the unique features of the ice storage facility is that it is said that there was an ice house on the property. Shinsaburo’s spirit of venture can be seen in the fact that he chose sake brewing as his main business. The brand name at the time of the establishment was “Shinkiku,” named after Shinsaburo and his wife Kiku, a married couple. Shinsaburo’s successor, Shu Yaokuya II, separated soy sauce production and greatly developed sake brewing, making “Shinkiku” the top brand in Iwakuni. The second generation was at the peak of Yakushin Shoten’s (the company’s original trade name) success. However, the shortage of rice during and after the Greater East Asia War made it difficult to obtain rice as a raw material, and the government encouraged the triple brewing method, in which a large amount of brewing alcohol, sugar, and other secondary ingredients were used to make sake, forcing producers nationwide to follow this policy. Shinkiku’s toji, who had only ever made junmai sake, was unable to adapt to the unfamiliar triple brewing method, resulting in sake of inferior quality compared to his peers. On the other hand, the general liquor wholesale division steadily expanded its business and spun off as Yaokushin Liquor Sales in the 1960s, and Yaokushin Shoten, which handled the main business of sake brewing, became a shadow of Yaokushin Liquor Sales.
From the official Yaokushin Shuzo website

The Ganki website is quite elaborate. I think it is interesting that the websites of recent breweries have a lot of individuality.

It’s not only about prior knowledge, but also about drinking the sake.

Old cap, isn’t it?

Is it a pattern of geese?

Don’t cut your hand. Be careful.

Opening the bottle

The sweet aroma of junmai rice. Slight ginjo aroma.

The 2:8 aroma balance is like this.

Sip it!

Japan ranking 42nd
Yamaguchi Prefecture Ranking 4th

Comment:A
I can drink endlessly. You’ll run out of a bottle very quickly.

comment:B
I think it tastes firmly boozy and fruity. This is delicious too!

Ganki Taste evaluation

The balance is good. Junmai sake is characterized by the sweetness of the rice, while ginjo-style sake is characterized by its aroma, which is a big difference.　Junmai sake has a moderate fruity sweetness and freshness, with little cloying taste. Its sweetness makes it a good match for dishes with strong oil, soup stock, or miso flavor.