Twenty-two sake breweries in Ehime Prefecture have launched the "Ehime Sakurahime Series" since 2023. The series is local sake brewed with “Ehime Sakurahime Yeast”, a floral yeast for sake breweries obtained from "Sakurahime", a flower originally bred in Ehime Prefecture, is used to brew local sake, using ingredients such as rice and water that are all produced in Ehime Prefecture. Each brewery brews according to the following guidelines.
=== Guidelines ===
Yeast used: Ehime Sakurahime Yeast (choice of 4 types)
Place of production: Brewed in Ehime Prefecture
Brewing water: Water from within Ehime Prefecture
Ingredient rice: Rice produced in Ehime Prefecture
Polishing ratio: 60% or less
Production quality: Junmai, Junmai Ginjo, Junmai Daiginjo class
Others:No alcohol added, limited to pasteurized sake
“Ehime Sakurahime Yeast" is a flower yeast for sake brewing separated and cultured from "Sakurahime," an original variety of delphinium, a specialty flower of Ehime Prefecture, as a result joint research by the Ehime Prefecture Sake Brewers Association, Tokyo University of Agriculture, and Ehime Food Industrial Technology Center. Four different types of yeast have been developed according to the different aromas and tastes taken from Sakurahime, and the new yeast was put to a trial brewing in 2022. Just as the name suggests, Ehime Prefecture's specialty flower, Sakurahime, bears blossoms that resemble soft pink cherry blossoms.
Ishizuchi Shuzo, located in Saijo City, Ehime Prefecture, has already begun this year's new sake season with its "Ehime Sakurahime Series," featuring magenta-colored bottles that are visually appealing and festive. Ishizuchi Sake Brewery has selected Type 1 (Tropical) from the four types of "Ehime Sakurahime Yeast" and uses "Shizukuhime," the first rice for sake brewing in Ehime Prefecture. Saijo City, where the brewery is located, is at the foot of Mt. Ishizuchi, the highest mountain in western Japan (1,982 meters high), and the brewing water is the clear and pure water of the Ishizuchi mountain range.
This sake is a concentration of the terroir of Ehime by Ishizuchi Sake Brewery for the “Ehime Sakurahime series”.
Ishizuchi, Sakurahime, Junmai Daiginjo
Ingredients: rice (domestic), malted (domestic)
Rice used: 100% Ehime Shizuku Ehime
Rice Polishing Ratio: 44 %
Alcohol content: 16 %
Appearance of the sake is slightly translucent white.
The aroma has cotton candy, chitose candy or milky candy, apple, pear, cherry blossom mochi as the top nose.
The taste is like the top nose, and the impression of fresh, juicy, and fresh follows on the palate. Short aftertaste.