Junmai Ginjo Midori-No-Eikun (1.8 L)

When the Saito family adopted the name Eikun in 1915 to commemorate Emperor Taisho's ascension, they were already brewing from one of Japan's most consequential water sources: Fusui, the soft, low-iron underground spring beneath the Momoyama Hills in Fushimi, Kyoto — designated among Japan's top 100 water sources by the Ministry of the Environment. That mineral-stripped softness is the structural engine of Fushimi's onna-zake (feminine sake) tradition, producing a texture that is mellow and enveloping rather than dry and assertive in the manner of rival Nada.

Midori-No-Eikun is built on Iwai rice, a Kyoto-exclusive variety developed in 1933, revived in 1988, and sourced almost entirely through Eikun — the kura controls roughly 40% of all Iwai grown in the prefecture, making this a genuinely proprietary terroir. The rice is polished to 60% remaining (seimaibuai), meeting Junmai Ginjo grade, then fermented via traditional cold sandan jikomi (three-addition) method using Kyoto-sourced yeast under the guidance of a Nanbu Toji guild brewmaster. No distilled alcohol is added — junmai designation is absolute.

The 1.8 L magnum format preserves the delicate ginjo aromatic profile across extended service, an unusual choice for a style typically bottled at 720 ml. Expect the characteristic Fushimi softness — a low-mineral water signature that no brewery outside Kyoto can replicate — alongside the gentle, melon-adjacent ginjo lift that Iwai rice delivers at this polish level.