Hakkaisan is one of today's most popular and well-regarded Sakes, often cited at the archetypal benchmark for the Niigata style - that is one that is crisp, clean and dry (or tanrei karakuchi). Founded in 1922 in Minami-Uonuma, and named after Mount Hakkai, where the brewery is located along its foothills, Hakkaisan is not historic by Sake standards, but has already achieved prominence.

As with many Niigata producers, the cold climate, quality snowmelt from the nearby mountain ranges, and top notch rice are often cited as reasons for the region's ability to produce super standard Sakes. Yet, Hakkaisan stands out even amongst the Niigata fold for a reason.

Hakkaisan Brewery at the base of Mount Hakkai.

The brewery is rather unique in several aspects. Amongst its points of differentiation is the brewery's massive focus on making its own koji, allocating almost a third of all daily labour to simply making proprietary, high quality koji to Hakkaisan's specifications.

The brewery also almost always uses two or more varieties of rice for each Sake - for example Gohyakumangoku, Miyama Nishiki, Yamada Nishiki and Etsudanrei - by combining these different rice types, Hakkaisan is able to imbue its otherwise Niigata-style light and soft Sakes, with a deeper umami note, amongst other unique attributes. Here, fermentation is also particularly slow and in low-temperature.

Hakkaisan's Yukimuro. 

Finally, the Sakes are left to age and rest in a Yukimuro or a natural refrigerator made from large mounds of snow harvested from around the brewery, that's then covered with rice straw to provide insulation. It's even said in ancient Japanese history that the 8th Century Imperial Family would use the yukimuro to store ice.

With that in mind, today we're going to try one of Hakkaisan's premium Sakes, the Snow Aged 3 Years Junmai Daiginjo. This Yukimuro Sake is aged at around a stable temperature of 3 degrees Celsius in a snow filled warehouse. It is made with Yamada Nishiki koji that is used on a combination of Yamada Nishiki and Gohyakumangoku rice that's brewed to produce the Sake. The rice polishing ratio here is 50%.

Let's go! Onward!

Hakkaisan Snow Aged Junmai Daiginjo 3 Years, 17% ABV | 純米大吟醸 八海山 雪室貯蔵三年 - Review

Tasting Notes

Color: Clear

Aroma: Acidity coming through with a yogurt-like lactic tartness. It’s rather heavy and thick but also rather dry and austere.

Taste: A noticeably thicker body, with juicy honeydews that leads into a more umami savouriness and oiliness that is much like charcuterie meats.

Finish: Crisp, a pretty clean finish with just the slightest sweetness.

My Thoughts

A real stellar representation of the Hakkaisan signature dry and umami savoury style! This really captured what Hakkaisan is all about and demonstrates how the brewery is able to create textural complexity and richness in its sakes.

On the nose, you get a sense of the dryness yet it has a richness to it. Then when you get to the palate, you’re greeted with a surprising juiciness of honeydew melons, almost as if you took a bite into one and juices began to pour out, which then moves into a sort of dried meat oiliness that was again rich but in a varying dimension.

The finish is again crisp and clean, almost like a matching epilogue to what we started off with on the nose.

This would go pretty well with soba noodles and a light tempura ebi fry, completing a really full-bodied and rich meal, balancing out the brightness of the cold noodles, and being on par with the richness of the fried prawns, even giving it some added textural brightness with the crisp and light, cold sake.