Dassai 39 Centrifuge (1.8 L)

When Hiroshi Sakurai launched the Dassai brand in 1990, he made a commitment almost without precedent in Japanese brewing: every single expression in the range would be Junmai Daiginjo — no lower grades, no blended tiers, no seasonal shortcuts. The 39 sits at the heart of that philosophy, its name denoting a seimaibuai of 39%, meaning 61% of each Yamada Nishiki grain is milled away before a single drop of water touches the rice.

Yamada Nishiki — the variety universally called the king of sake rice — is sourced exclusively across the entire Dassai range. The brewery occupies a mountain valley in Shuto-cho, Iwakuni City, Yamaguchi Prefecture, where the regional water is classified Seiryu (clear-stream), prized for its softness; all water is further purified on-site. Soft water yields a gentler, more texturally delicate fermentation — the house signature of silky weight without heaviness.

Rice is washed in 10 kg units in running water, soaked approximately 15 minutes, and koji is applied entirely by hand. Two parallel brewing teams run simultaneous moromi batches at differing water-absorption rates and fermentation temperatures, comparing results — a data-driven artisan discipline that replaces the traditional single toji model. The defining technical signature of this 1.8 L expression: centrifuge pressing, pioneered commercially by Dassai (c. 2000), separating sake from mash with zero applied pressure, preserving the most volatile aromatic compounds that conventional pressing crushes away. Bottling follows the proprietary Hayata pasteurization method (Patent 2013-008455) — cold-filled below 5°C, hot-shower pasteurized, then immediately rapid-cooled — locking freshness at the moment of peak expression.

Ripe white pear, lychee, and Fuji apple aromatics sit above a clean, mineral-edged finish drawn from Iwakuni's soft mountain water. Brew year-round (a deliberate break from traditional winter-only cycles), Dassai 39 is intended for near-term consumption to honour that centrifuge-preserved freshness.