Zankyo 'Super 7' Junmai Daiginjo

Tasting Notes

Zankyo Super 7 features a citrus nose reminiscent of freshly expressed grapefruit peel, with young pear tones. It has an incredibly light and delicate structure, with fleeting textures, flavors, and aromas that embody the very best of sake—always just beyond your reach.

Overview

Food Pairings: Pairs well with seafood-forward dishes, and also makes for an unexpected pairing with dried figs and dried apricot.

Item Description

Under the Niizawa brand umbrella, with two major brands—Atago No Matsu and Hakurakusei—the founder created ‘Zankyo,’ which means ‘Reverb’ or ‘Vibration,’ to push the boundaries of sake brewing. Niizawa Brewery, after spending 350 hours to polish their own rice, became the first to achieve a 7% rice polishing ratio. The Zankyo Super 7 began as a challenge from Niizawa-san and his team to push rice polishing to the limit and see just how refined a sake they could create. While the threshold for Junmai Daiginjo/Daiginjo qualification is a 50% rice polishing rate, some producers have experimented with going further, down to 40% or 35%. In past years, this sake was released as “Super 8” when they were able to polish the rice to just 8% of its original size. In 2015, they surpassed themselves by reaching 7%. The result is a sake that earns the name Zankyo, with an incredibly light and delicate structure, and flavors and aromas that are always just beyond reach.

Specifications

Prefecture: Miyagi

Brewery: Niizawa Jozoten

Rice: Kura no Hana, polished to 7%

Sake Meter Value (SMV): 0

Acidity: 1.5

ABV: 16%

Size: 720ml

Information provided by Skurnik.