Dewatsuru and Kariho: a subscription set to compare two characters from one brewer

Akita Seishu Co., Ltd., based in Daisen, Akita Prefecture, has announced “SAKE SELECTION BOX 2026”, a subscription that delivers two bottles a month from its two group breweries, Dewatsuru Shuzo and Kariho Shuzo. Akita is a rice-growing region on the Sea of Japan coast of northern Honshu, and the two breweries, though part of the same company, each have a distinct character. A theme is set for each month from October to December, so drinkers can compare sake made with the same method or the same rice, brewery by brewery.

Two breweries compete with the same method

The theme for October is “assemblage”, the blending familiar from wine. Three junmai sakes (made only from rice, water and koji) brewed at each brewery are selected and blended by its toji (head brewer) and its production manager. Dewatsuru aims for a gentle, mellow taste, while Kariho aims for vivid aroma and flavour and a crisp, dry finish, so the result shows how each brewery’s philosophy leads to a different outcome even with the same method.

December is a showdown of new sake, with both breweries using Akita Sake Komachi, a sake rice grown under contract in the local city of Daisen. Both are junmai ginjo (a grade with a rice polishing ratio of 60% or less, meaning at least 40% of the outer grain is milled away). Dewatsuru is characterised by the freshness of new sake and a soft, rice-derived flavour, Kariho by rich umami and a crisp finish.

An unusual proposal: seven years of ageing

November’s theme is aged sake. Sake is often thought of as something to drink fresh, but here both breweries offer sake matured for seven years at low temperature. Dewatsuru’s is a junmai daiginjo made from Omachi, a historic sake rice discovered at the end of the Edo period, aged for seven years at the brewery and said to have a clear, pure umami. Kariho’s is a junmai ginjo made from Aizan, a rice sometimes called the “diamond of sake rice” for its rarity, aged for seven years in a store kept at 0 to 5°C, with delicate sweetness and acidity and a pleasantly mellowed finish.

The subscription delivers two 720 ml bottles three times, and in December a 300 ml bottle of non-retail junmai daiginjo comes as a bonus. The price is 11,880 yen for in-store pickup or 14,520 yen for delivery direct from the brewery (both including tax). Orders are taken through participating liquor retailers, by telephone or fax, or through the brewery’s online shop, and the offer is for customers in Japan only.

For readers in Europe

The set itself is for Japan only, but the idea travels well. If you find an importer or a specialist sake shop that stocks Dewatsuru or Kariho, try lining up sake of the same rice or the same grade from the two breweries and compare how the aroma opens and how the finish ends. And when a menu or label says “aged” or “koshu”, it can be a sign that you are about to meet a sake with a mellow, settled umami quite unlike fresh new sake. For European drinkers who respond to the word “blend” with a wine drinker’s instincts, this kind of side-by-side tasting is where a brewery’s philosophy shows most clearly.