Colors Ash
⏳ Drinking Window
Typically best enjoyed within 1 to 3 years of release, though its structure allows for short-term cellaring under pristine conditions.
🍽️ Food & Wine Pairings
Grilled yakitori, roasted duck breast, aged hard cheeses
✨ Technical Specifications
Part of Aramasa's celebrated 'Colors' series, 'Ash' (known in Japanese as Niryu) is a tribute to agricultural heritage and the revival of lost traditions. This exceptional sake is brewed using Shinriki ('Divine Power'), an ancient heirloom sake rice variety that was once highly popular in western Japan during the Meiji era but eventually faded into obscurity due to its challenging cultivation. Aramasa has painstakingly revived this grain to express its unique, rustic, and deeply complex character. True to the brewery's uncompromising philosophy, Ash is crafted using the traditional Kimoto starter method, fermented in wooden cedar casks (kioke), and driven by the historic Kyokai No. 6 yeast. The result is a sake of singular personality, marrying vibrant, wine-like acidity with a rich, savory umami core and a delicate, earthy complexity derived from the wood.
🍾 About the Producer
Founded in 1852 in Akita Prefecture, Japan, Aramasa Shuzo is one of the sake world's most revolutionary and revered historic breweries. Under the avant-garde leadership of eighth-generation owner Yusuke Sato, the kura strictly champions traditional, natural brewing methodologies, utilizing only native Akita rice cultivars, wooden fermentation vats (kioke), and the time-honored kimoto method without additives. Aramasa is famously the historic birthplace of Kyokai Yeast No. 6, isolated here in 1930, which the brewery now uses exclusively across its entire production. Renowned for vibrant acidity, exceptional clarity, and wine-like complexity, Aramasa produces iconic cult expressions including the unpasteurized No. 6 series, the terroir-focused Colors collection, and the rare, boundary-pushing Private Lab series featuring labels like Invisible Pink Unicorn.
🍇 Grape Varieties
Shinriki sake rice
🍷 Alcohol By Volume (ABV)
13%