Kidoizumi uses organically grown Yamada Nishiki rice in it's "Gold Label" release. Yamada Nishiki is often called the "king of sake rice" for it's ability in fermentation to express a range of textures and flavors, responding harmoniously to any small decision a brewmaster might make. Here, brewmaster Hayato Shoji implements his brewery's unique "hot-yamahai" method in order to cultivate generous acidity into the starter mash, from ambient lactobacillus bacteria hanging around the breweries open mash-vats. This sake is then finished without pasteurization, which leaves intact various active enzymes and leads to somewhat intense flavors, textures, and aromas.  

On the nose, Gold Label shows mellow honeydew melon, pear, and roasted nuts. The aromas in this unpasteurized nama-zake are nicely subdued, compared to many of it's unpasteurized kin. I found this to be extremely welcoming after an entire spring of drinking (lovely, but often intense) namas. It's almost as if Fulamingo's Spring Namazake season naturally played up the "in like a lion, out like a lamb" idiom with this new arrival. 

 On the palate, we get a wonderful array of fruits such as pineapple honeydew melon, along with an intriguing saline minerality. Notes of ginger and citrus peel make appearances too. The touch of saltiness, combined with the honeydew notes really hits the spot, so much like the beloved combination of prosciutto and melon. The texture here is sublime, slightly waxy, and bright. The body is medium-rich, yet the bright acid and clean, dry finish keep everything in smooth order.

Like all unpasteurized sakes, this one is best kept stored in the fridge, due to its bevy of active enzymes and potentially fragile nature. 

This is Yamada Nishiki rice, polished to 60%. ABV is 18%.