Kiku-Masamune (Finest Chrysanthemum) Taru Sake

Brewed by Kiku-Masamune Sake Brewing Co., Ltd.
Style: Taru saké
Kobe, HYOGO Prefecture, Japan

Bottle at Sake & Co, Amsterdam. Clear. Herbal, a bit alcoholic. Dry herbal flavours. Wood and pine; the storage in cedar woods shines through. For sure different with its cedar wood impact.

Bottle thanks to bman113vr. Smell is alcohol, hot, caramel, butterscotch. Look is clear, yellowish color. taste is plain, alcohol, slight fruit, and some body.

(Bottle, courtesy of BMan1113VR) Pours a clear body with a lightly yellowish hue. Aroma of cedar, florals, vanilla, light pesticide, and alcohol. Flavor of cedar, touch of granny smith apples, and alcohol.

bottle thanks to bman113vr. pours like water with a slight yellow color. scent of cedar and vanilla. quite smooth on the palate with a big cedar/vanilla flavor. smooth finish and a nice alcohol warmth on the way down.

Thanks to BMan1113VR for finding this for me. Pours like water with a sigular drop of yellow food coloring added to it. Nose is exactly like poultry bullion cubes with seasoning. I got some leather and cedar (kind of like a shoe tree) at first but it blows off quickly and requires a swirl to pick it up again, also a bit of petrol. Taste is salty, pears, mineral oil, faint honey dew and there is a bit of an unpleasant sort of rubbing alcohol (medicinal) harsh finish. Interesting and difficult to judge being my first Taru.

First example of the style for me. Pours with a pale, yellow tinge. Weak legs. Aroma is light, somewhat earthy with vanilla and maybe apple. Taste is woody, light, then alcohol, and somehow finishes somewhat balanced. Mouthfeel is a bit on the thin side. The sake is crisp, but not fruity at all. I don’t really like the style, as the wood elements neutralize all the fruit elements and thus leave a magnified alcohol taste. Nice if you like rubbing alcohol.

300 ml bottle from City Market in Burlington VT (March 2008), served cold from a White Winter Winery glass. Utterly clear with a faint oiliness, minimal but lasting legs in the glass....spicy, vaguely nutty aroma is rather subdued, cedary character takes a little while to show up....moderately sweet on the palate, the woody characteristic is much more pronounced, giving it both sap-like and spicy/pungent flavors....alcohol is barely present, and this is perhaps the first sake I’ve had that seems to improve a little with warmth. My first taru sake, and I’m rather impressed.

Pretty good, not too much cedar flavor, just enough to add some interest. Just a tiny hint of heat on the finish.