Tozai Living Jewel Junmai Sake

Clean citrus start, peppery finish.

Rating: 14/23 Tozai always has pretty bottles and names. I dig both on this bottle. N: Light and fresh with hints of citrus and some sort of sweet fruit, then a bit of vegetal character that gets richer. The back of the bottle says to look for asian pear, which I get with that bit of somewhat vegetal fruit sweetness before it starts getting rich. I get a hint of sweet sticky rice in here too. This is a well-balanced nose, though it isn't that complex. P: Mmm! This is a nice palate. It's smooth and sweet with minimal burn. The fruit flavors kind of flow along, with vegetal notes that don't overwhelm. It's sweet and mellow, with gently churning flavors. I get hints of asian pear mixed with green banana and faint coconut. I don't really get the citrus from the nose, but that's fine. This is fairly dry, but not tart. I get a brief note of yeast, but it fades. F: Sort of fresh vegetal. A bit grassy, with a bit of melon. Not really the asian pears from the palate. A little more heat comes out, adding a little bit of spice, but it really isn't much. Occasional hints of green banana in there too. Smooth and clean with some controlled burn. - Conclusion - This is a smooth, easy-to-drink sake. It's quite enjoyable. There's enough going on to keep it kind of interesting, but not so much that it gets with amazing or weird. It's a well executed sake though and I really don't have any qualms with it. This is at least a 13, but I'd be surprised if it was a 16. It's not going to be a 17. Coming back to this, I'm up to at least a 14 now. It's a 14 or a 15. Very sippable, though nothing amazing. Which does tend to be pretty typical of good sake. I'm leaning toward a 15 because of its surprisingly full body, but I'm not sold on that yet. In a very odd side by side, I pitted this against Monkey Shoulder (14/23). The monkey shoulder is more complex, but it hits harder. This is impeccably smooth. I'm not really sure which is better. After continued deliberation, I think that this is worthy of a 15. It's decadent with a decent amount going on and no obvious flaws.