SAKEMARU interviewed with Mr. Shigenori Haneda from Haneda shuzo, which offers SAKEMARU’s October premium sake. The topic is also “HIYAOROASHI, Autumn limited sake”. Please check the previous article we have interviewed with Okazaki shuzo with the same theme.
Q. How is Hiyaoroshi in this year?
The balance between taste and aroma got well-harmonized. Sake got much richer and more unflappable characteristic, it’s actually the matured sake for grown-up people.
Q. To Haneda shuzo, what’s the meaning of Hiyaoroshi?
At least 6 months of aging is necessary to enjoy the umami of sake and the well-balanced taste. It’s very fun to drink fresh and vivid sake nouveau; however, Autumn is also an exciting season to enjoy the rich and various layers of taste.
Q. When you take maturing into account, do you take something special for brewing?
First of all, the most important thing is to leave a certain amount of sweetness in moromi. After aging, the taste of too sweet sake is easy to get dull and finish tends to lose its crispiness. Besides, the aging doesn’t give any effects towards sake’s taste in the case of too dry sake.
In my brewery, long-term aging is the main, so that we design moromi slightly sweet.
In addition to moromi, timing of pasteurization is quite important. We pasteurized this label once quickly after being produced so that sake could start to mature in a stable condition.
Q. As same as brewing, we think the maturing should be inevitable to mostly rely on the natural process. Do you have something unforgettable experience?
When I brewed sake for the first time, I totally didn’t have the idea of “aging” in my mind. So, it was very scary because the only thing we can do is controlling the temperature.
After 6 months, once I sipped Hiyaoroshi, the mellow texture and rich taste amazed me completely. I learned the respect to the natural aging.
Q. Hiyaoroshi is the Autumn limited sake. Please tell us your recommendation how to enjoy Hiyaoroshi
I recommend drinking it at room temperature or hot sake. It’s better to enjoy the richness and umami of sake. Also, sake works better as a pairing partner of dishes.
Normally, this Junmaidaiginjo is not offered as Hiyaoroshi, however, we specially prepared it as Hiyaoroshi, because the aging succeeded very well. Please enjoy the sake that is only available in the Autumn season!!!