Bijofu Junmai Ginjo Junrei TAMA Label (1.8 L)

Master brewer Ohara Akira trained under a Hiroshima toji — the region that first cracked ginjo brewing with ultra-soft water — then carried those techniques back to Kochi's nansui, a water source once dismissed as entirely unworkable for quality sake. That deliberate transplant of method defines every drop of Junrei TAMA. The brewery sits on a narrow coastal strip in Tano-cho, Aki District, hemmed between the Pacific and the Yanase cedar mountains; brewing water is drawn from the subterranean Nahari River, filtered through one of Japan's three great cedar forests into an exceptionally pure, mineral-stripped softness that would collapse most fermentations. Rice: Matsuyama-Mii milled to 55–60% seimaibuai (Junmai Ginjo threshold), sourced from neighbouring Ehime Prefecture. Fermentation runs via Kochi Prefecture's proprietary AA-41 yeast — an isoamyl acetate-dominant strain engineered for melon and banana aromatics — through low-temperature extended moromi using the sandan jikomi three-stage mash build. What is unusual here: the Kochi tradition demands dry, lean, austere sake, yet the nansui water and Hiroshima-trained technique produce a texture that is measurably softer and more aromatic than any regional peer. The 1.8L format preserves that aromatic precision longer under slower oxidative evolution. Drink now through three years from bottling for peak isoamyl acetate lift; the soft water backbone sustains freshness well beyond typical Junmai Ginjo windows.