Sake Review: Yuki Hotaru

I can hit a snow firefly at 20 paces!

Does the thought of snowflakes twinkling like fireflies compel you to build a bonfire and compose winter-themed haiku while imbibing sake? Perhaps you're the type to mock the thought of fireflies in the snow because you know they are a creature of summer. Today, we're going to take a closer look to see if Yuki Hotaru sake should appeal to your romantic or cynical side.

Packaging

Yuki Hotaru lives up to its wintry name with its translucent blue bottle, white on blue label, and silver bottleneck wrap suggesting mountain spring water combined with rice grown in a short season. Given that Yuki Hotaru is brewed and bottled in the famed mountainous rice growing region of Niigata, there is a good chance that the packaging will reflect its contents. You might even overlook the fact that this is a honjozo sake and not a junmai. Just don't let that deter you from the outset because there are good and bad examples found among both types and each offers its own range of flavour profiles. (See this post at Serious Eats for a solid introduction to honjozo sake beyond the fact distilled alcohol is added during the brewing process.)

Tasting

The nose of this sake was hard to place at first, yet familiar. As I tried to recall where I had experienced a similar smell before, my mind raced through a variety of foods and drink before landing on a medicine--penicillin! Surprised, but not dismayed, I proceeded to taste a sake with a very clean flavour profile and no strong tasting notes, let alone antibiotics. It also seemed to dry the back of my throat quickly after contact. After a bit of digging (i.e. letting the sake sit in my mouth a bit longer to sense the flavour), I detected the taste of truffles, with real earthy tones in the flavour. Different from what one might taste in a more delicate junmai daiginjo no doubt, but enjoyable nonetheless. Perhaps the flavour comes from the minerals in the water they use, but it did give me the fleeting, flippant thought, "maybe this is what a snow firefly tastes like."

Statistics

Sake Meter Value: 1.0
Acidity: 1.3
Amino Acid: 1.1
Alcohol %: 13.5
Semaibuai (milling rate): 70%

Verdict

I remember trying Yuki Hotaru a few years ago and being unimpressed by it. Looking back, this unfavourable impression was probably based on my lack of knowledge about the differences between junmai and honjozo styles which caused me to compare the two unfairly. I enjoyed this second bottle much more and it will have a place in my sake cellar again in the future. I suspect that Yuki Hotaru would pair well with salads and mushroom based dishes, giving it more versatility than your usual sake that tend to pair best with traditional Japanese cuisine. As a honjozo sake, it is also worth noting that it stands up to heating well. Although I have yet to try it warmed, there are instructions provided on the bottle should you be so inclined.

Winter emergence

A sake for all seasons

Yuki Hotaru

Not the best haiku I'll admit, even if it might make good marketing ad copy. Boosting sales wasn't my intent as much as offering an impromptu answer to the implied question at the beginning of the post. Have a sake haiku of your own? Feel free to share it in the comments section. 

Links

Distributor's Website

LCBO Product Page

Second Opinion: Ratebeer.com

All links are provided for information purposes only. I receive no affiliate fees.