This had quite an interesting scent: it was far more obviously rice-scented than the few other sakes I have had, all of which seemed more vinous. This isn't very vinous; rather it smells like a plate of steaming jasmine rice - very perfumed. Rich, not terribly subtle with such obvious rice aromas, but a pleasant drink even though it doesn't come to such ethereal mineral water purity as I read from Vinod is the ideal that sake strives to.
Hokkan Sake Brewing Misakura Daiginjo Sake 15,8% abv; rice milled to 50% of its original weight; 25 g/l sugar. 14,66€ / 0,72 liters.
A much more vinous scent, with more of that idealized spring water minerality. It also has some lovely, evanescent, elegant citrus & green apple aromas that, for those fleeting moments that I notice them, smell rather like Riesling. Nice scent but the palate just seems a bit brutish after all that elegance: very full bodied, the alcohol comes through even when fridge cold, and the sweetness is also quite obvious. It tastes almost plummy, though I never though obvious fruit sensations would arise from rice. But it's not too brutish - at least this novice sake-drinker got much pleasure from it.
Okunomatsu Sakura Ginjo - 15,5% abv; 11 g/l sugar; 0,8 g/l acidity; rice milled to less that 60% of original weight - here is a picture of the back label if some of our Japanese speakers can make out the actual number!
This has a terrible price: 32;60€ for 720ml. And it isn't so much more ethereal or elegant or complex that I would pay this much when we have Sakes that to my amateur palate taste similar enough at half the price.
The scent is neutral in an interesting way - some of that pure mineral water aroma - but with slight banana (I guess this must be from the yeast used?) and sticky rice notes in there as well. Full bodied, rich, but despite the low acidity on paper, it tastes pleasantly refreshing on the aftertaste. It doesn't taste alcoholic despite the 15,5%. There is a very pleasant sensation of grip on the finish. I like this. But I just don't see it as worth 10-15€ more than the other Sakes available here.