KUBOTA Tokugetsu Junmai Daiginjo

KUBOTA Tokugetsu Junmai Daiginjo.

Sake is particularly enjoyed during Autumn. The Japanese have a custom called ‘Otsukimi’, meaning ‘viewing of the harvest moon’. During this time, they enjoy the multi-coloured spectacle of the leaves turning and celebrate beneath the full moon, eating seasonal foods, reading poetry, making decorations and sipping sake, such as Kubota’s Tokugetsu Harvest Moon.

This seasonal Junmai Daiginjo Sake features a label and gift box especially designed for Otsukimi, it even features cute little rabbits pounding rice to make mochi. Kubota’s flagship creation is Manjyu, which has received countless gold medals and a huge score on RateBeer.com, but Tokugetsu Harvest Moon is a step above even that. Despite the immense cost and skill involved, 72% of the Yukino Sei rice grains are polished away. The more you polish, the cleaner, brighter, and more delicate and aromatic the final sake. So, this is sake from the upper echelon. Only 84 bottles were made available for the UK, and we scooped up 60 of them, because it’s just that good.

Kubota is made at Asahi Shuzo in Niigata, a mountainous Japanese prefecture full of rivers and valleys, and home to Mount Tanigawa. Firm believers that “the quality of sake can never exceed the quality of its ingredients”, Asahi Brewery use only the finest. They work closely with local farmers to ensure access to the ultimate sake-brewing rice and keep their production techniques a well-guarded secret.

This premium sake is an exhilarating and flawless affair that will appeal to fans of Dassai and fine wine. Clean and ethereal in texture, it’s almost like the purest stream water. We were dazzled by its complex notes of pear sorbet, nougat, apricot pastries, steamed rice and anise, and we can’t wait to sip it beneath the stars.