Shinkawa Ichibansen, a private brand of Honda Shoten, a sake brewery in Himeji City, Hyogo Prefecture, known for its "Ryuriki" brand, and Ohboshi Okamura, a sake wholesaler in Shinkawa, Chuo-ku, Tokyo, a historic sake wholesaler's area, sell limited edition sake.
The brand name "Shinkawa Ichibansen" is a perfect representation of the spring season, when freshly brewed and pressed sake is delivered to the heart of Tokyo as "kudari sake in the Reiwa Period".
The term "kudari sake" refers to sake brought to Edo (Tokyo) from Kamigata (Kinki region) in the Edo period (1603-1867) by "taru kaisen" refering to barrel-carrying vessels (vessels specialized for the transport of sake barrels).
The label on the sake bottle reads, "In the Edo period, when new sake was made at breweries in Nada and Fushimi in late autumn and early winter, it was casked and loaded onto a barrel vessel. Total fifteen or so vessels set sail from Nishinomiya for Shinkawa, where sake wholesalers were located, aiming to be the first "Soichi-ban" to arrive, and it took about 58 hours to get there. This "Bansen Race"or "Soichi-ban Race" were popular and widely known as one of the events that colored the culture of the townspeople of Edo.
Also, the neck of the sake bottle reads "Shiboritate Souichiban Nama-zake," a stylish gimmick for enjoying the classics.
The cherry blossoms start blooming in Tokyo in late March and spring is in full swing. I enjoyed Ryuriki Special Junmai Shinkawa Ichibansen Nama on March 10, feeling the seasonal elegance associated with the Souichiban Sake.
Ryuriki Special Junmai Shinkawa Ichibansen Raw sake
Kimoto style starter culture
Rice polishing ratio 70%.
Alcohol content: 16%.
Rice : Domestic rice
Koji Rice (malted rice) : Domestic rice
The appearance is in light greenish yellow and close to a champagne gold color. The aroma is like ”kanroo candy” or sweet soy sauce flavored candy, “mizuame” or malt syrup, and “ramune” or soda. It tasted also like “canro candy”, “muzuame”, and “famune”as the top nose. it is fresh and vibrant on the palate with the dryness on the throat(there is no fizz in the appearance). It is well-balanced as the aftertaste has the rice-delivered sweetness and umami.