Fudo Myoo Junmai Ginjo Sake

Brewed by SakeOne Corporation
Style: Junmai
Forest Grove, Oregon USA

Sampled at the Richmond Gathering during the mid-tasting sake interlude. Very faintly yellow. Not much aroma or flavor. Just rice and alcohol heat. Not rough, but quite simplistic. Mostly harmless.

Clear with soft green tinge. Clean aroma is not much more than koji. Nice texture and actually has a good body. Nice grittiness that the other two in the tasting do not have, which gives this one a good texture. Woody finish lingers long on the tongue instead of evaporating like the others in the tasting. Quite a bit of character overall.

375 mL bottle from Whole Foods Market, Charlottesville, VA. Pours crystal clear and almost colorless with some yellowish tones showing through. Very sweet and fruity aroma with citrus, apple and alcohol. Taste is also fairly sweet... almond, green apple, melon. Medium bodied.

Very light green-yellow. Surprisingly phenolic in the nose with a heavy wood accent. Somewhat bland, sweetish, with a bit of late heat. Almost applejuicey quality. Did not impress me.

2008 Bottle. Sent in a photo to be uploaded. Pours clear with a yellow or green tinge and weak legs. Aroma of ripe banana, melon and alcohol. Taste is very fruity, but with strong, unballance alcohol, although there is a nice almond and orange note in the finish (high taste rating, but sake is supose to balance and hide alcohol, so weak overal rating). Syrupy mouthfeel.

Bottle from Whole Foods: Pours pellucid with a straw yellow tinge; thick legs. The nose is fragrant with a light alcohol hint, a rough yamahai hint and more woody koji notes. Not all bad though; some melon and cotton candy too. Smells very dry. The flavor is sweeter with a fairly chewy body, lots of banana, orange and tropical fruit notes. Maybe more acidity and sweetness than I expected, but it’s ringing some good bells in the flavor. That yamahai note is such a turn off for me though and it only shows itself for a second in the nose. Actually once it warms you get a little more perfumey and floral blossom notes in the nose. Not bad.

This sake is more fruity and sweet than others that I’ve tried. Apricot, mandarin orange, and peach are predominate. Not bad. A dessert sake?

Chilled bottle from Whole Foods, Sarasota, FL. Poured clear pale with good legs. Moderate tropical fruit aroma. Light to medium body. Medium sweet fruit and rice flavor with a medium fruity sweet finish with a warming burn of moderate duration. My expectations were met.