kiwamihijiri

As a sake lover, we should always try different sake to develop our palate. Other than popular Yamadanishiki, there are still many rice varieties worth trying such as Omachi. As the hybrid of Yamadanishiki and Gohyakumangoku, Omachi is famous for having unique flavors while being hard to grow, so it has been sought after by passionate sake fans. In recent years, Kiwamihijiri, a prestigious sake brewery in Okayama Prefecture, has made a revolutionary and shocking decision to create a Junmai Daiginjo made of 20% polished Omachi named “Tenkanoshisei” (translated as Sage). Indeed, how special is it?

Omachi is well-known for being unique. Compared to other rice varieties, it is richer in umami and more complex with higher acidity. Delicious and special, it is especially popular among sake geeks. However, it is extremely hard to grow because its ears are too easy to devastate by wind due to the length and susceptible to insects. In fact, back to the 1950s, Omachi almost came to extinction because during the period of food crisis, no one was willing to grow such a difficult type of rice.
Besides low production, Omachi has another issue – it is so difficult to handle during sake brewing. Easy to crack when being polished with high water absorbability, it is actually not a very popular choice among brewers. For this reason, Daiginjo made of Omachi can barely be found and polishing ratio down to 40% or below is even rarer. “Sage”, however, is a sake with the polishing ratio down to 20%. It also adopts the Omachi grown in Takashima, Okayama Prefecture, which is considered as the best harvest, so as a sake fan, you should not miss such a high quality and rare sake.

Omachi is well-known for being unique. Compared to other rice varieties, it is richer in umami and more complex with higher acidity. Delicious and special, it is especially popular among sake geeks. However, it is extremely hard to grow because its ears are too easy to devastate by wind due to the length and susceptible to insects. In fact, back to the 1950s, Omachi almost came to extinction because during the period of food crisis, no one was willing to grow such a difficult type of rice.
Besides low production, Omachi has another issue – it is so difficult to handle during sake brewing. Easy to crack when being polished with high water absorbability, it is actually not a very popular choice among brewers. For this reason, Daiginjo made of Omachi can barely be found and polishing ratio down to 40% or below is even rarer. “Sage”, however, is a sake with the polishing ratio down to 20%. It also adopts the Omachi grown in Takashima, Okayama Prefecture, which is considered as the best harvest, so as a sake fan, you should not miss such a high quality and rare sake.