昭和44年の発売、白老の「蔵人だけしか飲めぬ酒」を開けました。当時として相当画期的な無濾過の生酒は、今では当たり前の日本酒の「色」のために返品されたりして大変だったらしいですが、こういう作り手からの発信が飲み手の心を変えていく正しい進化が、いいものを作るのでしょう。全ての味のバランスがいいと、濃厚な酒でもすっきり飲めるのが不思議ですね。あ、北海道の方は間違えるかもしれませんが「白老」は「はくろう」と読みます。
I've opened a bottle of Hakuro's "Sake Only the Brewers Could Drink," first released in 1969. Its unfiltered namazake style was remarkably ahead of its time — I hear it was even returned by buyers who objected to its color, something now considered perfectly natural in sake. It is this kind of quiet insistence from the maker that gradually shifts how drinkers think, and that honest evolution is what produces something truly good. When every element of flavor is in balance, even a rich sake goes down with surprising clarity. One note: readers from Hokkaido may recognize the characters 白老 as "Shiraoi" — but here they read as "Hakuro," the name of this Tokoname brewery.