The Toji Series Editon Ii (720 ml)

In 2017, Marcus Consolini became the first non-Japanese owner and CEO of a sake brewery in Japan when he acquired Daimon Shuzo — a kura founded in 1826 at the foot of the Ikoma mountain range in Katano City, Osaka. That transgression of industry convention was deliberate: Consolini and 6th-generation toji-director Yasutaka Daimon committed explicitly to no volume scale-up, keeping batches at 10 kg hand-crafted scale under toji Ryosuke Uei. The brewery draws natural soft spring water from the Settsu and Ikoma mountains — low mineral content characteristic of the Kamigata soft-water tradition — which promotes a fuller, rounder fermentation profile than the harder waters of eastern Japan. The Toji Series Edition II is built on Yamada Nishiki rice, fermented via three-stage sandan-jikomi addition with ginjo-low temperatures extended through the moromi to develop textural depth and complexity well beyond what the grade designation might suggest. This is the defining transgression of the Daimon house: the 'Rich Dry' Kamigata philosophy — full rice umami and body anchored by refreshing acidity — applied to a small-batch artisan series that refuses the lighter tanrei karakuchi or overtly fruity ginjo conventions. The Toji Series is Daimon's most craft-forward expression, foregrounding the decisions of toji Uei rather than house blending.