Kinoshita Tamagawa Untouched Series Junmai Ginjō Nihonbare Batch 14

Kinoshita Tamagawa Untouched Series Junmai Ginjō Nihonbare Batch 14 (純米吟醸 手つけず原酒 無濾過生原酒 (日本晴) 2022BY仕込14号) is part of Tamagawa's "Untouched" Series" and a "3U" (undiluted, unpasteurized, unfiltered) junmai ginjō. The untouched series are limited editions bottled to order during brewing (December to April), using rice variants like Ōmachi, Gohyakumangoku, Iwai, etc. When new sake flows from the press, it still contains carbon dioxide produced during fermentation. The lucky kurabito can taste new sake with that extra little zing from the fizz, but the gas escapes when the liquid touches the air. Tamagawa set out to bottle that moment for our customers, bottling by hand directly from the press, then sealing the bottle within seconds. With a combination of crisp freshness and surging flavour, the "Untouched" series makes superb aperitifs.

Kinoshita Shuzō, in Kōyama, Kyōtango, Kyōto Prefecture, was founded in 1842 by the fifth head of the Kinoshita family, Kinoshita Zenbei (木下善兵衛), who reportedly used the harvest from almost thirty hectares of rice fields and the copious spring water gushing from the mountain behind the brewery. The hereditary name Zenbei was passed down to the 6th and 7th generations. Then, the company was led by the 8th, 9th and 10th generations (Sentaro, Zenichiro and Juichi, respectively) before being handed on to Kinoshita Yoshito, the current president and the 11th in line.

The brand name Tamagawa can be translated as "Jewel River." The name is thought to refer to the Kawakamidani River, which flows by the brewery. The character 玉 (tama) means a jewel and has sacred implications in Japan's native Shinto . 川 (kawa or gawa in compound words) means river.

Kinoshita Shuzō is one of the few Japanese breweries with a foreign tōji, Philip Harper. Born in the UK, he graduated from Oxford University. He taught English under the JET programme until he discovered sake. He worked at Umenoyado Sake Brewery for ten years before taking and passing the Nanbu Tōji Association's qualification test in 2001, earning him the title of 'Tōji'. He was the first foreigner to become a toji (and the only one at the time). He then worked at Umenoyado Shuzō, Daimon Shuzō and other breweries before becoming tōji at Kinoshita Shuzō in 2008.

Kinoshita Yoshito gave him full responsibility for everything except following the locally favoured taste of regular sake and daiginjō. He immediately began producing kimoto sake, which does not use brewing lactic acid, and yamahai, which uses only natural yeast from the brewery. In addition to new sake types like 'Icebreaker' and 'Time Machine', Tamagawa's legacy is reflected in the sake he produces.

Along with the new master brewer, the brewery's logo was redesigned with an innovative design by Sakane Katsusuke to symbolise the new Tamagawa. It is now widely known as the 'Marutama mark' (丸玉マーク).