Otokoyama Fall-Release Hiyaoroshi – 男山特別純米ひやおろし

At a Glance: A fall-release sake that’s mild, minerally, fresh, and faintly sweet. Notes include sour rice, forest floor, fresh flowers, and cantaloupe.

 

Otokoyama Hiyaoroshi is a fall-release Namazume is brewed in the labor-intensive kimoto method.  Typical of the hiyaoroshi style– it’s cold-aged over the summer while it loses it’s brash edges and develops complexity.  Every year’s bottling is a little different, but generally, this sake is fairly aromatic, silky, clean, and refreshing.  Aromatic and tasting descriptors include fresh flowers, dry leaves and rocks, melon, freshly steamed rice, and anise to name a few.

Stored cold and dark, Otokoyama Tokubetsu Junmai Hiyaoroshi has the acidity and character to develop well over a year or two.  It’s still sake, however, so generally– fresh is better.  As always, be mindful of the bottle date.

Pairing / Service

Otokoyama Tokubetsu Junmai Hiyaoroshi performs extremely well on the table and almost demands food.  The refreshing character and underlying umami work well with most ramen and fried dishes, plus many of the sushi bar staples like uni (urchin), kani (crab), hotate (scallop), ikura(salmon roe), silver-skinned fish, and of course, maguro (tuna).  

Otokoyama Hiyaoroshi is best served either chilled (hana-hie 花冷え to suzu-hie 涼冷え; 41-59°F) or gently warmed (nuru-kan ぬる癇; 104-113°F).  Smaller white wine glasses will emphasize the sake’s structure and amplify the pretty aromatics.  Smaller o-choko will provide a much more subdued experience and highlight this sake’s silky texture. Larger guinomi will bring it somewhere in the middle.

Tech & Production Info

Otokoyama Tokubetsu Junmai Kimoto Namazume “Man’s Mountain”

Rice: Ginginga 吟ぎんが (Iwate), Dewasansan 出羽燦々 (Yamagata), Gohyakumangoku 五百万石 (Toyama), and Miyamanishiki 美山錦 (Akita) milled to 60%  Yeast: 701

SMV: +1  Acid: 1.7  Amino Acid: 1.1  ABV: 15%

Hiyaoroshi– pasteurized once and stored over the summer for release in fall   

Tech Sheet 

The Hokkai Otokoyama Brewery

Brewery: Otokoyama Shuzo 男山酒造   Location: Asahikawa, Hokkaido

EST: 1661   

AKA: Hokkai Otokoyama 北海男山 to differentiate from other Otokoyama 男山 brands.  This brewery is arguably Hokkaido’s most famous– and possibly the biggest name in the North American sake scene.  They introduced quality sake (Tokutei meisho-shu 特定名称酒) in the late ’70’s/early ’80s to much of the world and forever changed the market.

In terms of production, Otokoyama 男山 is large– 10,000+ koku per year.  That’s almost 2 million liters of seishu!  About half of this is quality tokutei meisho-shu.  The brewery needs a lot of water to produce this much sake.  Their source is well pulling subterranean meltwater from the Daisetsuzan 大雪山 range.   This water is relatively soft.

Despite Otokoyama’s soft water, their sake tends to feature a mineral quality.  Most of their products are fairly dry and light, and they often show well chilled or warmed.

Offical Site: Japanese

Otokoyama Sake Museum  

Label Translation

Otokoyama Shuzo 男山酒造  Otokoyama 男山

Hokkai Otokoyama 北海男山

Asahikawa-shi 旭川市  Hokkaido 北海道

Tokubetsu Junmai 特別純米  Hiyaoroshi ひやおろし

Kimoto 生酛   Namazume 生詰め