Post by クレイグ (Kureigu) on Sept 17, 2014 9:54:38 GMT -4
Full disclosure: I am a sake neophyte. I can speak fairly competently about wine, whisky and beer. A lot of what I expect to like comes from what I like in those types of alcohols. I expect to like dry and very smooth, or unfiltered and slightly effervescent. I do not have sake glasses and tend to use the same glass I use for drinking scotch - basically a small, bulb-shaped glass, somewhere between an old-fashioned and a stemless snifter in shape.
I was looking for a nigori (unfiltered) sake and do not remember if I picked this at random, or if it was the only choice. This one is very cloudy and completely flat without even a hint of effervescence. I won't try to give a detailed taste because my memory is now ruined with reviews I came across while searching for a picture online to send to #bostongo (and post here for the review), but I will say it was slightly sweet and somewhat complex with a hint of bitterness. The bitterness really stands out if you have it with chocolate (I would not recommend that pairing at all).
A quick look around Google search results recommends pairing with spicy food, heavy food and assertive desserts, especially chocolate. I can't agree with the chocolate, at least for this nigori, but I did expect it to work, so maybe it's just this particular nigori. I think spicy food would go very well.
My final verdict: I probably would not buy this again. It was not bad but suffered in comparison to the previous bottle of sake (not nigori) I had recently finished. I would not turn it down if somebody offered me a glass, but if I was purchasing, I would pick something else off the shelf/menu to try.