Dassai 23 versus Asahitaka Tokubetsu Honjozo

Dassai 23 versus Asahitaka Tokubetsu Honjozo

I have reported about Asahitaka sake in the past, please refer to Asahitaka Tokubetsu Honjozo Yamagata Prefecture | Fine Wines Pte Ltd. I have changed my drinking habit and I much prefer warm sake over cold sake nowadays. Apart from health reason not to have cold drinks, when sake is being drank warm, it has it’s own charm and actually reveals the true character of sake. When sake is chilled, it masked some crucial taste elements like the sourness and acidity of the rice, and the taste of rice. Drink it warm is the traditional way of appreciating the true colors of good and bad sake. For my experience, when drinking warm, one can easily detect the unwanted acidity, a good Junmai Daiginjio should not possess any of the residual sourness and acidity from the brewing. Such is the case with Dassai 23. As you may have known, Asahitaka is made from the maker of Juyondai, it’s a rather cheap proposition compared to Juyondai, thus the unwanted sourness and acidity from the rather not-so-pure rice is exemplified. However, tonight I am in favor of Asahitaka over Dassai; the taste of Asahitaka is richer with full bodied presence, it somehow overwhelmed Dassai. Dassai has slight hollowness in the body, although she obviously has it’s own beauty of softness, elegance and finesse. It’s a strange match up with totally different price range and different category of sake classification. However, such is the fun of having comparison!