Kozaemon Junmai Daiginjo (720 ml)

Founded in 1702 by Nakashima Kozaemon in mountainous Mizunami City, this brewery made a deliberate market transgression around 2001 — championing umakuchi (rich, umami-forward) sake at a moment when Japan's mainstream had spent three decades chasing the opposite ideal of light, dry tanrei karakuchi. That philosophical stance is encoded into every production decision. Mizunami sits at 70% forest cover in southern Gifu's Mino highlands, drawing fermentation water from a natural underground spring fed by snowmelt off Mt. Byobu (Byobuzan) — soft, mineral-clean water that supports slow, low-temperature fermentation and preserves delicate ginjo aromatics. The Junmai Daiginjo deploys a two-rice architecture: Yamada Nishiki polished to 40% (kojimai) and Aiyama as kakemai, with koji cultivated at approximately 98% humidity to maximise enzyme activity and amplify rice-derived sweetness. Fermentation follows yamahai starter — a labour-intensive, lactic-acid-driven method that builds structural acidity and umami depth — combined with four-stage (yodan) brewing additions, a fourth mash increment beyond the standard three-stage sandan shikomi that extracts additional complexity. Bottling uses the gravity-fill 'Piledriver' method to minimise oxidative stress. The pairing of yamahai with daiginjo-level polish is the category transgression: most producers reserve yamahai for earthier, lower-tier expressions, not sub-50% ginjo aromatics.