Tokyo 2024 day 3: Isojiman, Mon Amour

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The main reason for taking this trip to Tokyo was to see an old friend. My first visit to Tamanegiya (酒たまねぎや) came in the summer of 2010, and ever since that fateful night, I have made sure to visit Master on every single subsequent visit to Tokyo. Nine visits over the space of 14 years may not sound like much, but my relationship with this place is longer and more meaningful than with any other hospitality establishment in all of Japan.

On my first visit back there last year after a 3-year absence due to the pandemic, Master mentioned that he was thinking to close up shop and retire this year, as he would be turning 70. That was, of course, not good news for long-time fans like myself, and I resolved to come back to see him before the place becomes history.  

Master organizes around a dozen or so vertical tastings each year of sakes from breweries he is friendly with, drawing on his extensive cellar to showcase a single bottling in a way that few others could accomplish. Usually the president or the toji (杜氏) of the brewery would also be present. I had thought about joining one of these events in the past, but for various reasons I chose not to pull the trigger. Until now.

Today I joined about 20 others for a tasting of Isojiman Junmai Daiginjo Nakatori 35 Adagio (磯自慢 純米大吟醸 中取り 35 アダージョ), covering 16 vintages beginning from the very first in 2009 to the 2024 vintage that has literally just been released. As if these weren't enough, Master has thrown in an additional two bottles to make it even more interesting.

Photo credit: Kinoshita Takayoshi

After shelling out a big wad of cash to Master just outside the door, I walked into one of the function room at Hotel Metropolitan Edmont to find 3 tables set up and a wall of sake. Since it's free seating, I hurriedly put my bag down and saved seats for Geruhage and V as well. As luck would have it, we were seated at the same table as brewery president Teraoka Yohji (寺岡洋司).

I was surprised to find a printted menu in front of me, showing that there was a full kaiseki (会席) meal to be served alongside the tasting. We had thought it would just be "snacks (おつまみ)", which was why V and I had just stuffed our faces with loads of Tajima beef (但馬牛). Now, just 2 hours after our very big lunch, we were faced with the prospect of having a "lunner"...

So here we go! I figured I would do the hotel the courtesy of eating some of the food but perhaps not finish everything. In the end I think I did pretty well...

Appetizer: cod milt marino, Chinese yam, snow radish (先付: 白子毬藻 長芋 雪大根 ポン酢 薬味) - well... right off the bat we have fish cum, so this was definitely a 'NO' for me. Didn't touch this part of the appetizers.

Appetizer: strawberry in tofu sauce, torched cashew nuts, honey (先付: いちご白和え 炙りカシューナッツ はちみつ) - this was OK.

Soup: Chinese softshell turtle soup, Chinese softshell turtle ball, grilled mochi, chrysanthemum greens, shredded leeks (お椀: すっぽん澄まし すっぽん真丈 焼餅 春琴 白髮葱 汁生姜) - not too surprised to see softshell turtle on the menu since we are in winter.

I was, however, a little surprised that the shinjo (真丈) was also made with softshell turtle.

Sashimi: tuna, striped jack, scallop (造り: 鮪 帆立 あしらえ一式) - yes, I ate the tuna...

Grilled dish: miso-marinated winter yellowtail, yuzu shavings, salted bigfin reef squid, kelp roll, wine-marinated fig, castella, matsukaze-yaki (焼物: 寒鰤味噌漬け 振り柚子 煽り烏賊鯛塩辛温玉 昆布巻き 無花果ワイン カステラ 松風 松葉蕎麦 はじかみ) - a nice presentation here, with different small dishes accompanying the main ingredient.

Nice to see the bigfin reef squid (煽り烏賊) given the raw marinade (塩辛) treatment.

The grilled winter yellowtail (寒鰤) was, not surprisingly, a little overcooked and on the dry side for my liking.

Simmered dish: simmered beef tendon, Gensuke radish, spinach, autumn leaf gluten (煮物: 牛すじ煮込み 源助大根 法蓮草 紅葉麩 山椒) - I love beef tendon, which always works well with radish.

Deep-fried dish: shrimp toast, sweet potato, green pepper (揚物: 海老真丈パン 丸十 青唐 柚子胡椒マヨネーズ レモン 雪塩) - this was basically the same as a Hong Kong-style shrimp toast (蝦多士), plus a couple of pieces of vegetable tempura. The yuzukosho (柚子胡椒) mayo on the side was nice.

Rice: salmon roe and salmon ochazuke (食事: いくら 鮭 茶づけ 三つ葉 ぶぶられ 胡麻 海苔 山葵 香の物) - I love salmon ochazuke (お茶漬け), and it's even better when salmon roe is added.

Dessert: assorted fruits (水菓子: 果実盛り合わせ) - can't go wrong with orange and melon.

To be fair, the food was pretty decent. But then this hotel apparently has a good reputation for being a popular place for hosting events and weddings, so I would expect their catering to be fairly strong.

Now... on to the bottles and bottles of sake! I was surprised to find that, other than the first shot where the waitstaff served everyone for the customary toast, the rest of the bottles were opened around 3:10 p.m. and this became self-service. A yongobin (四合瓶) bottle of sake divided into about 20 people makes for pretty small pours, and since about 40% of those in attendance were not Japanese, I wasn't sure that everyone would stick to the honor system and drink only their share... In fact, a few guys from Hong Kong definitely went back for seconds and maybe thirds... I had to go and pour a few shots for myself for fear of the bottles becoming empty.

Isojiman Junmai Daiginjo Nakatori 35 Adagio (磯自慢 純米大吟醸 中取り 35 アダージョ), 2009, from jeroboam - only 51 of these 3-liter bottles exist, with glass handblown in Italy. This was very smooth, and slightly sweet on the palate. It's clear that there is age on it but it's not showing too much of the fermented or savory notes one usually finds with koshu. Did I smell a little more of the alcohol than usual, and was it because of the light fermentation notes? Regardless, this was just a really smooth and beautiful drink.

Isojiman Junmai Daiginjo Nakatori 35 Adagio (磯自慢 純米大吟醸 中取り 35 アダージョ), 2010 - the nose was not as open as the 2009, and this was more dry on the palate.

Isojiman Junmai Daiginjo Nakatori 35 Adagio (磯自慢 純米大吟醸 中取り 35 アダージョ), 2011 - this was a little more rounded on the attack but turned dry and spicy almost immediately afterwards.

Isojiman Junmai Daiginjo Nakatori 35 Adagio (磯自慢 純米大吟醸 中取り 35 アダージョ), 2012 - very smooth and round, soft and slightly sweet on the palate now.

Isojiman Junmai Daiginjo Nakatori 35 Adagio (磯自慢 純米大吟醸 中取り 35 アダージョ), 2013 - rounded on the palate, but slightly more dry than 2012.

Isojiman Junmai Daiginjo Nakatori 35 Adagio (磯自慢 純米大吟醸 中取り 35 アダージョ), 2014 - definitely sweeter on the palate, and showing notes of starchy rice on the nose.

Isojiman Junmai Daiginjo Nakatori 35 Adagio (磯自慢 純米大吟醸 中取り 35 アダージョ), 2015 - sharper alcohol notes on the nose, a little more dry than the 2014, and bigger on the palate.

Isojiman Junmai Daiginjo Nakatori 35 Adagio (磯自慢 純米大吟醸 中取り 35 アダージョ), 2016 - very sweet and starchy nose, but also started to be a little spicy on the palate.

Isojiman Junmai Daiginjo Nakatori 35 Adagio (磯自慢 純米大吟醸 中取り 35 アダージョ), 2017 - got a little more acidity on the palate here, but overall rounder and smoother on the palate.

Isojiman Junmai Daiginjo Nakatori 35 Adagio (磯自慢 純米大吟醸 中取り 35 アダージョ), 2018 - reasonably smooth on the palate, with a good balance between being neither too sweet or too dry.

Isojiman Junmai Daiginjo Nakatori 35 Adagio (磯自慢 純米大吟醸 中取り 35 アダージョ), 2019 - this was more dry on the palate.

Isojiman Junmai Daiginjo Nakatori 35 Adagio (磯自慢 純米大吟醸 中取り 35 アダージョ), 2020 - rounded on the palate, a little bit sweet but still kinda dry, too.

Isojiman Junmai Daiginjo Nakatori 35 Adagio (磯自慢 純米大吟醸 中取り 35 アダージョ), 2021 - this leans dry on the palate.

Isojiman Junmai Daiginjo Nakatori 35 Adagio (磯自慢 純米大吟醸 中取り 35 アダージョ), 2022 - rounded and smooth on the palate, but I could taste the alcohol a little more. Slightly dry on the finish.

Isojiman Junmai Daiginjo Nakatori 35 Adagio (磯自慢 純米大吟醸 中取り 35 アダージョ), 2023 - the nose was not as open on this one, although it was sweeter on the palate.

Isojiman Junmai Daiginjo Nakatori 35 Adagio (磯自慢 純米大吟醸 中取り 35 アダージョ), 2024 - a little bit of banana on the nose.

Isojiman Junmai Daiginjo Nakatori 35 (磯自慢 純米大吟醸 中取り 35), 2023 - this was the very last vintage of Nakatori 35, as a new product line started in 2024. The palate still started out being sweet, but turned dry towards the finish.

Isojiman Junmai Daiginjo Nakatori 33 Grazioso (磯自慢 純米大吟醸 中取り 33 グラツィオーソ), 2024 - this was the first vintage of Nakatori 33 Grazioso, which replaced the "regular" Nakatori 35. Having just been released, the alcohol seemed to be a little sharper on the nose for this one.

This tasting went about as I had expected. I had done a number of mini-verticals of Nakatori 35 or Adagio in the past at Tamanegiya with 3 or 4 consecutive vintages. While there were subtle differences between the vintages in terms of being sweet or dry on the palate, and somewhat different fruit or rice notes on the nose, these variations were mostly contained in a relatively narrow range. Perhaps because my olfactory senses just aren't well-trained or my vocabulary is limited, but I've never experienced a wide variation in a sake vertical the way I would with a vertical tasting of wine made from grapes. While I love drinking it from time to time, the subtle complexities of sake is, sadly, simply beyond me. I'm glad that I have finally attended one of these tastings organized by Master, especially an epic one featuring every single vintage of Adagio ever produced. It was truly a privilege.

I was clearly toast after all this sake, but amazingly I was still functional and could do a lot better than simply staggering to the elevator taking me upstairs to our room and crash. I did nap a little bit, but woke up when Foursheets came back from her shopping errands. I did not pass out for the next 4 to 5 hours as I had fully expected.

Since I wasn't totally dead, I got up to go to a sports bar to watch the 2024 Abu Dhabi Grand Prix, the final Formula 1 race of the season. Thanks to an old high school friend who has worked for Honda his whole career, I found a yakitori/izakaya in Shinjuku that specifically mentioned that they would be showing this race live. And as I stepped foot into this tight space that was perhaps a tad bigger than a hole-in-the-wall, I was stunned to find that the Shinjuku branch of Kiteya (きてや) had 6 big screen TVs hung on its walls - with one wall having 3 screens literally next to each other! They also had a small TV next to the bar by the entrace, which was showing some footie match live. More than half of the patrons watching the race tonight were non-Japanese...

Well, there was a minimum charge for being in this bar, and it has been more than 4 hours since the second of my lunches ended... so I started to nibble a little bit when the others ordered up some food...

Fried shrimp and oysters (エビフライとカキフライ)

Fried cheese (チーズフライ) - this was Camembert, like they do it at Foursheets' beloved Hidden (秀殿) in Hong Kong. Of course Suzuki-san at Hidden does a much better job...

What a day it's been! We were pretty happy to have caught the last race of the season while traveling, seeing McLaren take the World Constructors Championship at the final race. It was also Tomo-chan's first time watching an F1 race, even if only on TV. But now it was time to catch up on sleep!