Secret Santa Sake

Every year, my office partakes in the age old tradition of “secret santa”. Everyone gets a name at random of someone in the department and has to buy them a $10 gift which are exchanged at the holiday luncheon. Now, the operable word here is “secret”. My office takes this very seriously and the giver is not revealed even after the holidays.

I was looking forward to the holiday but had no great expectation for my secret santa gift from co-workers. When I arrived at the lunch, I sought out my gift to give it a good shake and discovered right away it was a bottle. Dare I hope? Could it be sake?!

My turn finally came and I was surprised that it was sake! My Secret Santa, who by the way is STILL a secret, picked up a 180 ml bottle of Kamotsuru Tokusei Gold Daiginjo (Kamotsuru Brewery, Hiroshima prefecture, Seimaibuai 50%, SMV +1.5, Acidity 1.4, ALC 16.4%). Word’s gotten out at work… I’m a sake fiend.

I have to say I was very impressed with Santa. This is a sake I have never even seen before and I was excited to try. The first thing I noticed was that this seemed like a “gift giving” sake. There were two pieces of gold leaf floating around in the bottle and they were pressed to be shaped like little cherry blossoms. (yes, they are meant to be consumed). I drank them down with gusto and didn’t even notice they were there.

Made with underground water from Kaga mountain, the color had a very slight cast of yellow which I assume came from the gold flakes. For me the nose was very faint and fleeting. The taste on the palate was a tiny bit on the dry side and maybe even a bit sharp but rich and not at all unpleasant. The alcohol stayed nicely in the background. The main characteristic of this sake for me was the super looooong finish. It just keeps going and going and going like the energizer bunny. The flavor and essence of this sake has staying power. I enjoyed it.

According to the Importer’s website (Mutual Trading Co, Inc.), Kamotsuru Tokusei Gold is “known as the first Daiginjo Sake ever produced and seen in the history of saké making in Japan”. That’s pretty cool!

Secret Santa, whoever you are, thanks for introducing me to a great new golden nugget! God bless us, every one!