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Demondori Mesume – Ontario Spring Water Sake Company’s First Batch

I just tried the Demondori Mesume today, and it’s a great sake. It has a prominent peach note on the nose, and slight peachy-nectarine note on the palate. A very refined rice basenote, of course, and perfectly smooth. 15% alcohol, but other than the slight sensation in my sinuses telling me there’s alcohol, you’d never know it.

Considering the fact that this would have been a ruined batch if it were not for the brewmaster’s skillful rescue speaks volumes of her skill and of the quality of sake that the Company can make. It’s a medium-bodied sake with solid flavors on the palate. I’ve tried other light, floral/fruity sakes and they felt thin and light. Not so with the Demondori Mesume. It won’t overpower you in any way, but it comes across as something graceful and refined, soft without being weak or effeminate. It is, I think, an example of true skill in the art of making quality sake.

As I wrote before in my earlier post about the Ontario Spring Water Sake Company, the Demondori Mesume is as limited-run as you will ever find. It was the company’s very first batch of sake. The brewmaster arrived in Toronto to begin working with the company partway through this first batch. Due to inexperience (I presume), the other company staff had already begun to chill the sake – far too early, too cold, too fast. They just about killed the koji. However, the brewmaster Yoshiko Takahashi carefully rescued the batch. It was probably more work than it would have been to do it right all from the start. What her efforts brought forth, however, is a wonderfully refined and enjoyable sake that will never be made quite the same way again. It is unique in two respects: it is the very first batch made by a new, world-class but local sake brewery, and it is a rescued batch made in a way that nobody in their right mind would make on purpose.

Peachy, refined without being weak, and smooth as silk – this bottle is a wonderful experience that I’m going to be able to enjoy bit by bit for the rest of the day. After my experience in-store with the shiboritate and now at home with the Demondori Mesume, my impression and expectations of the Ontario Spring Water Sake Company are both blazingly bright.