[B466] Kakurei Aiyama 鶴齢 純米吟醸 愛山 青木酒造 新潟県 R5BY Vintage Bottle 720ml

Kakurei Aiyama Junmai Ginjo is matured in a snow chamber during the summer and always arrives in late summer. For us, this has become a seasonal tradition that beautifully signals the approaching autumn. Its first release was from the 2017 Brewing Year (29BY), and it has since become one of the absolute highlights of the Kakurei lineup released in the latter half of the year.

While Kakurei Aiyama is undeniably delicious upon immediate release, we discovered that its flavor evolves beautifully with time. We invite you to experience the deep, evolving character of our vintage bottles, which have been aged further in the bottle.

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Aiyama

Aiyama was created in 1941 as a cross between Aifune 117 and Yamao 67—both of which descend from the legendary Yamada-Nishiki and Omachi families. While Aiyama produced exceptionally large grains and tall stalks that indicated excellent brewing quality, the rice proved incredibly difficult to cultivate. Because of these agricultural challenges, the Akashi Agricultural Laboratory eventually decided to discontinue the variety.

However, Kenbishi Shuzo recognized Aiyama's immense potential. They kept the variety alive by cultivating it exclusively through private contracts with local farmers until the mid-1990s.

Tragically, Kenbishi Shuzo was severely impacted by the Great Hanshin Earthquake in 1995. Their sake production was temporarily halted, which also forced a suspension of Aiyama cultivation.

Seizing the opportunity to save this rare variety, Takagi Shuzo (the makers of Juyondai) stepped in to revive Aiyama. Because it remains notoriously difficult to grow, very few farmers cultivate it even today. Its total production volume is only about 2% of Yamada-Nishiki’s, making Aiyama an incredibly rare commodity allocated exclusively to a handful of Japan's top breweries.