Emishiki Sensation Blue Label Namazake

Emishiki Sensation Blue Label Namazake (笑四季 センセーション 青ラベル 生酒) is made of Shiga Watarifune Nigō rice milled to 50% and Kyōkai No. 6 yeast. The blue label is a product that, until recently, was sold exclusively within Shiga Prefecture. The characteristic green apple aroma of the Kyoukai No. 6 yeast is pleasant. Initially, when well-chilled, it flows down effortlessly, akin to sipping cold water. However, a juice-like flavour emerges as the temperature inched toward room temperature. Unlike the crispness of the black and the mellowness of the white, the blue label conveyed the impression of a juicy burst of fresh sweetness reminiscent of biting into ripe fruit.

Emishiki Brewery in Koga, Shiga Prefecture, was founded in 1892 under the name Takeshima Honke (竹島本家) by Takeshima Eizaburo (竹島栄三郎), in the centre of the former Tōkaidō Minakuchi-shuku. The company's trademark, "Emishiki'' (笑四季), was named by Takeshima Senjirō (竹島仙治郎), the second-generation owner. The husband of the brewery's heiress developed new product lines from his induction, pushing the name "Emishiki" to the national stage. The brewery is attracting attention among local sake fans and the industry as an up-and-coming sake brewery producing new and unconventional sake.

The brewery is involved in preserving the characteristics of the Shiga Watarifune No. 2 (Short-stalked Watafune) rice variety, an isolated strain from Ōmachi, and cultivating its seeds. The water used is the brewery's No. 2 well, "Kurashimizu" (蔵清水, well depth 5 m, hardness 55 mg/L), considered to be underground water from the Suzuka mountain range, and "Iwama-yama Iwaburosui" (岩間山岩深水, hardness 10 mg/L, spring water volume 80 L/min) from the former Nagaishi mine in Hirazu Nishiyama, Ōtsu, which has low hardness and few impurities.