Tsuchida Princess Sally (720 ml)

When Yuji Tsuchida inherited the brewery, he made a deliberate break from his father's polished, ginjo-focused house style — pivoting the entire lineup back to Edo-period kimoto technique and minimally milled Asahi no Yume, an edible table rice grown in Gunma Prefecture polished to only 90% seimaibuai, retaining far more of the grain than any premium sake category demands.

The brewery sits at the southern foot of Mt. Hotaka in Kawaba Village, Tone District, drawing on spring water that has filtered underground for approximately 50 years before reaching the brewery — soft, mineral-laden, and consistent enough that the 5th generation relocated the entire operation in 1992 specifically to stay on the same underground water line.

Every expression in the Tsuchida range is produced via the full kimoto method, relying on ambient lactic acid bacteria from the brewery air to inoculate the shubo naturally — no manufactured lactic acid added, no shortcuts. Fermentation runs approximately twice the duration of modern accelerated methods, and the cool mountain microclimate of northern Gunma supports the slow, stable conversion that builds the house's signature layered umami. The mash contains three ingredients only: rice, water, and koji.

Princess Sally is unusual even within Tsuchida's own transgressive lineup: the combination of 90% seimaibuai, edible rice, and kimoto ambient fermentation — practiced by fewer than 1% of Japanese producers — is applied here in a style that moves directly against the prestige-polishing orthodoxy that defines modern premium sake.

No vintage dating applies; drink now or hold to let the natural acidity and umami integrate further.