Zankyo 'Super 7' Junmai Daiginjo Sake

Brewery: Niizawa Jozoten• Prefecture: Miyagi • Rice: Kura no Hana milled to 7% • Water: Soft spring water from Mt. Zao • Yeast: – • Sake Meter Value: 0 • Acidity: 1.5 • ABV: 16%  

The Zankyo Super 7 started as a challenge from Niizawa-san and his team to push rice polishing to the absolute limit and see just how refined a sake they could make. While the threshold for getting to the highest qualification of Junmai Daiginjo/ Daiginjo is polishing away 50% of the rice, some producers have experimented with higher polishing rates, down to 40% or 35% remaining. The more you polish the more delicate the center of the rice grains get, and the danger of them cracking or burning grows higher, meaning even more time must be taken to preserve the rice.

Originally released in 2009 at a polishing rate of 9% to explore the absolute core of the flavor of rice, they were later able to get to 8% and then in 2015, after 350 hours of polishing, they surpassed themselves and made it to 7%. The result is a sake that earns the name Zankyo, literally “Reverb” or “Vibration”, with an incredibly light and delicate structure that creates delicate and fleeting textures, flavors and aromas that characterize the very best sake: always just beyond your reach.