Taste: Aromatic and elegant, with a refreshingly elegant and restrained taste and a lingering aftertaste; the gorgeous sweetness of the rice and the slightest hint of acidity make for a rich, aromatic, rice-flavoured and pure taste. The name of Dassai Matsuri's sake is a numerical expression of the combination of the finest rice and the ‘two cuts and three thirds’ means that only 23% of the finest part of each grain of rice is brewed, resulting in a sweet and fruity flavour in every drop.
【Centrifugation】In 2000, Dassai introduced telecentric separation technology to the sake industry for the first time, and it has played a crucial role in Dassai's constant challenge to pursue the ultimate in fine sake. The technique of telecentric separation allows for the extraction of flawless sake, which in turn creates sake with a luxurious aroma and delicate flavour.
However, the second and third parts of the sake obtained by the telecentric separation technique are too delicate in terms of transparency of flavour, so in order to add a heavier texture to the sake, the product has so far been made by blending the sake obtained from the unpressurised press of the telecentric separation technique with that obtained from the brewing of a traditional sake.
In recent years, as sake collectors have improved their techniques, the transparency of the centrifugal separation liquor itself has been combined with its corresponding heaviness through more meticulous fermentation management. The representative ‘Dassai Matsuri Junmaidaiginjo Futatsukuri Distant Separation’ now relies on this technological advancement, and will no longer be brewed using only a 100% Distant Separation brewing method.
Dassai is certainly the most recognised sake brand in modern times, and is the king of sake. I believe that many fans of sake have heard of or drank the classic ‘Three Cuts and Nine Points’ or ‘Two Cuts and Three Points’. Nowadays, Dassai is not only famous in Japan, but also internationally, and is the most recognised sake brand in Asia and the West. Let's find out what makes Dassai so appealing.
<Origin of the name>
Asahi Brewery Co., Ltd. in Yamaguchi Prefecture is the brewery that created Dassai. The brewery was founded in 1947, and the name of the place where the brewery is located is ‘Dassai’. Prior to the birth of Dassai, Asahi Sake Brewery brewed ordinary sake called ‘Asahi Fuji’ from 1948 until Hiroshi Sakurai, the third-generation president of the company, faced with a shrinking market and declining sales of his products, decided to give up the brand, which had a history of more than 200 years, and concentrate on ‘Junmai Daiginjyo,’ which is the most complicated production process.
The term ‘dassai’ refers to the way otters like to arrange their trophies on the shore after catching fish and shellfish, much like an offering to their ancestors, and the name “dassai” comes from the alias of the haiku poet and owner of the Dassai Shokuhakuya (Dassai Shokuhaku), who was also the man who sparked the literary revolution of the Meiji period, ‘Shokugyo Masaoka’. President Sakurai thought that the name was appropriate for the works of ‘Dassetsu Fukiyama Sake Brewery’, so he named it ‘Dass Matsuri’ in the hope that the sake would inject a new force into the traditional industry, just as the revolutionary literati of the new movement did.
‘Dassai’ did not have a smooth start, and was in a crisis of closure some 20 years ago. Not only was the sake market in the doldrums, but the shochu market was under pressure, and the ‘Doshi’ (brewers) team left the company because they did not see the future of sake brewing, and the president of the company, Mr. Sakurai, had thoughts of losing his life, but fortunately, he chose to continue to work hard, and set out three major strategies, which have led to the present success of Dassai.
