Dassai Beyond 720ml

Dassai Beyond is the pinnacle of the Dassai range, and it took Asahi Shuzo more than a decade to make. The brief was simple and close to impossible: handcraft a sake that would surpass Dassai 23, itself praised by critics as a perfect sake. Founder Hiroshi Sakurai and a small group of artisans pursued it at the brewery's countryside home in Yamaguchi prefecture.

Going beyond meant setting aside polishing numbers as the measure of quality and coaxing depth, complexity and smoothness from rice that had not been tasted in a sake before. Batch after batch was rejected for not clearing the bar. The completely handcrafted process remains a closely held secret, and production stays extremely limited.

The result is ultra luxurious, elegant, perfectly balanced, multi-layered and complex, with a long finish. Asahi Shuzo suggests tasting it alongside Dassai 23 to see the difference clearly. Serve it well chilled in a wine glass. Allocation here is extremely limited.