Norman 
Nabeshima
Daiginjo Yamada Nishiki Sake
Name: 鍋島 大吟醸（Nabeshima Daiginjo） 
• Sake type: Daiginjo（大吟醸, highly polished; typically includes a small addition of distilled alcohol
• Rice: Yamada Nishiki (Hyogo, Grade A / specially designated) 
• Polish ratio: 35% 
• ABV: 17% 
• SMV: +5 (dry-leaning) 
• Acidity: 1.7 
• Brewery: 富久千代酒造 (Fukuchiyo Shuzo)
• Prefecture: Saga 
• Award note: cited as IWC Trophy Champion / flagship in at least one detailed retailer profile 
• Bottling date + lot: 2025.10, LOT 5732
This is built like a flagship Daiginjo: precision polish (35%), dry-leaning structure (SMV +5), and higher ABV that gives it torque and length rather than airy fade. The common lane is melon and tropical fruit on the nose, then a palate that feels tight, glossy, and more structured than most fruity Daiginjo, finishing clean but not thin.
Had this one again. Pricing was very fair compared to retail. This was my favorite of the two - it is silky smooth with a bit of weight on the palate. Aromatics are there and it doesn’t read sweet on the nose or flavor. Little bit of melon and super balanced. This is a great bottle and its freshness shines though it. Really like. — 13 days ago
Nabeshima
Daiginjo Yamada Nishiki Sake
Nabeshima Daiginjo (鍋島 大吟醸) — Fukuchiyo Shuzo, Saga
Daiginjo from Fukuchiyo Shuzo (Nabeshima brand). 17% ABV, 720ml, and a bottling date 2025.07. Great to get them fresh.
Highly polished, aromatic “luxury daiginjo” with melon/apple/citrus tones and a clean finish. Some retailers specifically note a little fizziness on opening and there was a pop. Verged on sweet. Definite melon and significant weight on the palate. — 17 days ago
Mannochmore
Gordon & Macphail 22 Year Old
This is a big and bold offering. I would not call it hot but certainly an immediate big hit on the month. The nose gives a bit of cigar, brown sugar and warm spices. It’s rich on the palate, strong on the tongue but also lightly on the cheeks. Fades relatively quickly. — 42 minutes ago
Jozan Shuzo
Junmai Yamadanishiki 2024
Jozan Yamadanishiki Vintage 2024
Ok this is a $20 sake in Japan which is where I brought it back from. That’s insane since it would be at least $75 here and not nearly as fresh. It’s thinner than I like, it’s like tap water thin. I like a bit more weight. It’s got a long finish. Not sweet, bit of bitterness on the end.
Here is ChatGPT which has some great points.
Name: 常山 山田錦 ヴィンテージ Jozan Yamadanishiki Vintage 2024
Rice: 100% 山田錦 (Yamada Nishiki)
Rice origin: Fukui Prefecture, Fukui City, Miyama area, Kamiajimi district (contract-grown) 
Farmer: 内田一朗 (Ichiro Uchida) 
Polish ratio: Not disclosed (非公開) 
ABV: 15% (label and brewery spec) 
Bottle: 720 ml
Brewery: 常山酒造合資会社 (Jozan Shuzo)
Location: Fukui City, Fukui Prefecture 
Brew timing: Your back label shows 製造年月 2025年7月 (manufactured/bottled July 2025).
“Vintage 2024” meaning: Jozan attaches a Vintage sticker for each brewing year in this series. 
Sake type, based on the label
Your ingredient list is rice + koji only, with no brewing alcohol listed. That is consistent with Junmai.
It does not say “Nama” or “Genshu” on the label, and the brewery recommends warming, so it is very likely a heat-treated, standard-strength food sake rather than a fragile unpasteurized bottle. Junmai definition: made from rice, koji, and water only (no added distilled alcohol).
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What it’s trying to be (context)
This is from Jozan’s “地域との友和 / The Areas” concept, which is basically “show the place and the farmer,” using contract-grown rice from specific Fukui districts. Jozan’s broader house style is described as crisp, clean, and dry-leaning while still drawing out rice umami. 
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What it should taste like (grounded expectations)
You can predict a lot from the combination of Yamada Nishiki plus Jozan’s stated style:
• Aroma: elegant, restrained ginjo lift rather than loud fruit, with a polished “rice sweetness” feel
• Palate: fuller mid-palate than their more linear rices, then a tidy finish
• Finish: likely clean and quick enough to keep pulling bites of food forward, not a syrupy linger
Jozan themselves describe it as “elegant, swelling fullness” typical of Yamada Nishiki, with real drinkability. 
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Serving that will fit your preferences
Because you like more structure for dinner, don’t default to ice-cold.
Best starting point: 15°C (cool cellar temp). Jozan explicitly calls out ~15°C. 
This usually gives more body, more rice texture, and better length versus refrigerator-cold.
If you want more “kick” and grip with dinner: try it warmed to about 50°C (their recommendation). 
Warming tends to amplify umami, widen the palate, and make the finish feel longer. It also exposes flaws, so if it stays clean at 50°C, it’s doing its job.
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Pairing (where it should shine)
This is built for food.
• Best: sushi with more fat and umami (chutoro, salmon, anago, uni), grilled items, soy-forward bites
• Also good: yakitori (salt), miso, mushrooms, lightly sweet simmered dishes
• Less ideal: extremely delicate white fish only, where you might prefer a more airy, higher-aroma ginjo style
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Quick reality check on value
I see it listed around ¥3,300 for 720 ml at retail in Japan. 
For a contract-farmer, single-area Yamada Nishiki bottling from a serious Fukui producer, that’s a reasonable baseline.
The one “tell” to note: polish ratio is undisclosed. 
That is not automatically bad, but it means you judge it purely on what’s in the glass, not on a marketing spec.
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Nerd corner: why Yamada Nishiki often feels “bigger”
Yamada Nishiki has a large, starchy core (shinpaku) that tends to ferment into a rounder, more integrated mid-palate than many table rices. With a brewery that aims for crisp finish, you often get a satisfying combo: volume in the middle, snap at the end. — 11 days ago
Hirakou shuzou
Hitakami Junmai Akiagari
I’m liking this and I’m pretty sure it was the cheapest I brought back from Japan so ~$10. It’s crazy how cheap they are there for some good quality. Lot of options and I should have brought back more.
Hitakami Junmai Akiagari (日高見 純米 秋あがり)
Junmai (純米) seasonal Akiagari release, basically a “summer-aged then released in early fall” sake.
Brewery: Hirakou Shuzo (平孝酒造)
Location: Ishinomaki, Miyagi (宮城県石巻市)
Rice: Hyogo Yamadanishiki (兵庫県産 山田錦) Polish ratio: 60% 
ABV: 16% to 17% 
Many listings also show SMV around +2 and acidity ~1.6 
2025/08 which lines up with late-summer bottling for the fall release. 
Hitakami as a house style tends to be clean, seafood-first, and on the drier side, not aromatic “ginjo perfume.” This Akiagari version usually brings:
• More rounded rice umami and softer texture than the spring release
• Still a crisp finish so it doesn’t get cloying with food  — 3 days ago
Tedorigawa
Yamahai Junmai Shichimenchou-Sake 2025
手取川 ひやおろし “Scarlet Mountain” (Tedorigawa Hiyaoroshi “Scarlet Mountain”)
• Rice: Yoshida’s autumn junmai (hiyaoroshi-style) release: Koji rice Yamada Nishiki and kake rice Ishikawamon.
• Polish ratio: 60% (per Yoshida’s autumn junmai seasonal spec). 
• ABV: 15%
• Sake type: Junmai Hiyaoroshi (純米 ひやおろし)
• Junmai = pure rice (no added brewer’s alcohol)
• Hiyaoroshi = an autumn release that’s been matured/rested after brewing so it drinks rounder and more umami-forward than a just-released sake (it’s a seasonal “timing/style” designation, not a single fixed recipe)
• Brewery: 吉田酒造店 (Yoshida Sake Brewery)
• Location: Ishikawa Prefecture (石川県), Japan
• Bottle size: 720ml
• Importer: World Sake Imports
• Date code: “2025.09”
How it drinks: This is the “fall food sake” lane. The core impression is rice-weight and savory smoothness, not high aromatics. You get that autumn-rested integration: less sharp edges, more umami and round mid-palate. It’s the bottle that gets better once soy, grilled notes, mushrooms, and richer fish show up.
Why it reads “autumn”: Hiyaoroshi tends to land in a sweet spot where amino acids and residual extract feel more knit together, so you perceive more umami and less angularity. It’s not necessarily sweeter, it’s just more “settled,” and your palate reads that as depth.
ChatGPT above.
Had this second and as much as the info above says it will read less angular/sharp edges it has some rough ones. Banana strongly on the nose. Reads rougher to me as it’s not silky smooth like the other bottle. The alcohol is more present and the weight on the palate isnt as easily perceived due to that. As much as I preferred the other I think this was fantastic with the warmer foods at the end of the omakase and especially when the fatty otoro came out. Was able to stand up to that wher tbe delicate prior bottle would have been lost. — 13 days ago
Norman
Light on the color and flavor given the age. This is more on the honey side for color and flavors than heavy wood. The “44th Release” is a vatting of two Tomatin 1994 bourbon hogshead casks (#6422 and #11210), assembled with input from Jim McEwan (the release write-up frames it as a deliberate “vatting” exercise, and they even offered constituent parts). In the nose I get a bit of solvent. On the palate light heat, hits on the sides of the tongue and a bit in the middle. It’s lasts for a while but given it’s not a bruiser you have to focus to notice it’s lingering. — 42 minutes ago