Please Help Japan

Uruwashi 

This is one of the cup sakes from the 47 sake set I bought, (one from each prefecture in Japan), and it's a phenomenal sake from Miyoshikiku Brewery in Tokushima Prefecture.
And I think that's the first time I've used the word "phenomenal" in any review!

It's a Tokubetsu Junmaishu sake so made from rice and koji (rice mold) only, and the rice is polished down to 60%.

It has a slightly yellowy/green hint to it, and when opening the cup you're hit with a strong smell of aniseed!
Just like those small round, red aniseed sweets I had as a kid back in England (not sure of their name, but think it was, "aniseed balls", that would certainly make sense anyway).

On the palate, it has a very unusual taste. Not like most sakes I've tried before.

There's a slight hint of aniseed, and a fruitiness to it too. It's fresh and a little sweet, with no sense of alcohol.

A very, very smooth sake.

This is an unusual and excellent sake. Definitely one to seek out.

They have a website, (only in Japanese), but if you click the following link you can see a news article from NHK, back in 2002, about the brewery and their use of cameras in the brewing process (I think!). Worth a look, even if you don't understand Japanese I think. Here's the link : Miyoshikiku Brewery on NHK

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