Kasen Shouchikubai Goukai Karakuchi

Takara Shuzo traces its origins to 1842 in Fushimi, Kyoto, where the founding Yomo family began brewing sake before expanding into mirin, shochu, and shirozake. The Shochikubai brand, whose name strings together pine, bamboo, and plum, the three auspicious plants of Japanese New Year, was launched as a premium celebration sake and became what the brewery called 'maboroshi no meishu' (sake of legend). The Goukai Karakuchi is a futsu-shu entry in the portfolio, fermented in Fushimi's soft groundwater and positioned as a robust dry table sake with the full-bodied structure that defines the Kyoto style. Fushimi's water, classified as soft and flowing from the Momoyama Hills, produces a noticeably rounder and more delicate mouthfeel than the hard-water sakes of neighboring Nada.