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Kubo-honke shuzou
Kubo-honke shuzou(=久保本家酒造) was established in 1702 in Nara, which is the origin of saké. Toji(=杜氏。Head of brewery team) : Mr.Kato has lead saké making of Kubo-honke since 2003. Mr.Kato has received the full backing of Mr.Kubo(the 11th head of family Kubo-honke). He and his team brew the one and only, authentic saké which has extreme purity and boasts outstanding strength and durability.
Toji : Mr.Kato had brought the “Kimoto(=生酛)” method to make his ideal saké. Kimoto is an ancient method which was established in the Edo era. Today, sokujou(=速醸。making starter instantly and safely) is the standard way of saké making and this method is good for mass production. On the other hand, the whole process of Kimoto is executed manually and naturally, therefore Toji needs to deal with the risk of spoilage of fermentation, and the production amount is limited. Due to poor cost efficiency, Kimoto had disappeared 100 years ago and was forgotten for a long time. However, some breweries rediscovered merits of Kimoto and they revived this method today. On the way of quest to ideal saké, Toji : Mr.Kato had encountered Kimoto, and he decided to go this way.
Kuramoto(=蔵元。owner of brewery) : Mr.Kubo was not interested in saké and this family business when he was young, and he had started his carrier as a banker after graduation. After a while, he was sent to London branch, and maybe this experience of seeing Japan and its culture from the overseas had brought him some different sight. Then, he re-recognised that his family has been inheriting treasures since 300 years ago, and he was aware that he must succeed the family brewery. After that, he finally went back to Kubo-honke shuzou in 1995.
At that time, Kubo-honke was selling bulk saké to major companies. Mr.Kubo was struggling and he was thinking about the future of saké industry, and that his brewery will not be bright if they were doing the same(saké industry over the peak in 1975 and is continuously declining since that). He decided to change the business style and started selling saké with their own labels. It was also not easy, and he had to be patient. After years of trial and error, finally Mr.Kubo found Mr.Kato and got an inspiration “His Kimoto is the solution”. Then, Mr.Kubo had bet the future of Kubo-honke on Mr.Kato. That was year 2003.
To sign the contract, Mr.Kato requested one important condition. That was "Kato and his team can drink saké(what they produced) as much as they like", because Mr.Kato wanted to make saké with the highest quality for his self drinking. "That's why we are very serious. We produce real stuff for ourselves, so quality guaranteed 100%. And remainings are for sale", said Mr.Kato.
Today, several breweries have implemented the Kimoto method, and generally people recognise that Kimoto brings complexity to saké. However Kubo-honke's Kimoto is not like others. Toji : Mr.Kato builds-up and refines yeasts thoroughly until completion of fermentation. Those strong yeasts convert all sugars to alcohol and finish their task perfectly. This extreme process makes superb purity and outstanding strength. It's brilliant.
Mr.Kato and his team also produce Sokujou version. "Based on deep understanding of every step of Kimoto, we are also able to operate Sokujou method perfectly too". So high quality of Kubo-honke's casual lines(Sokujou version) are also strongly supported by their Kimoto expertise.
Today, this almost deified brewery Kubo-honke is releasing three unique saké - “Kimoto-no-dobu=生酛のどぶ” is an ultimate cloudy sake in dry style, “Suiryu=睡龍” is a large-boned saké which possesses extreme purity and great ageing potential, and “Hatsugasumi=初霞” is bringing warm, calm and relaxing mood to you.
Real Kimoto(生酛) saké requires at least five years ageing to be ready to drink and we never release Kimoto version of Suiryu(睡龍) at young stages, said Kato toji of Kubo-Honke Shuzo(加藤杜氏／久保本家酒造). This is the reason why all Kimoto version of Suiryu which you can see is older vintages. Kimoto-no-dobu(生酛のどぶ) is released relatively earlier because Moromi(醪=mash) soften the texture of saké.
*Kimoto(生酛) is a natural and traditional way of saké making. The wild yeast makes a strong structure and unique flavour. This method requires much time and effort.
久保本家酒造
元禄十五年（1702年）に久保官兵衛が創業、３００余年の歴史を誇る奈良の酒蔵。平成１５年から杜氏を務める加藤克則氏が現在の久保本家の酒造りを伝統的な生酛づくりへと導き、初霞・睡龍・生酛のどぶ、といった骨太で個性的な酒をリリースしています。長期熟成し燗上がりする酒は、多くの酒飲みたちから愛されております。
「生酛造りは、日本酒造りの基本であると考えます。香り系の速醸酛の造りとは違う、米洗い・蒸し・麹・酒母（しゅぼ）・醪（もろみ）それぞれの操作、作業があり、ある意味完成されています。生酛造りの作業の一つ一つの道理を理解してこそ、新しい技術である速醸を、難なく行うことができるのです」久保本家酒造杜氏：加藤克則
このうえない純粋さ、真の辛口
久保本家の酒はどれをとっても真っすぐで純粋この上ない味わい。どうでしょうこの力強い旨味は。じっくりと睡龍や生酛のどぶに一晩向き合った後にはもう他の酒には戻れなくなっているのではないでしょうか。余計な飾りなしの純辛口、これぞ日本酒の真髄です。
「麹の出来が不十分で、イラ湧きしたような薄っ辛い酒は、本来の辛口ではないと思います。麹を栗香を超えるまで造りこみ、その強い酵素力により糖化された糖を、余すところなく発酵させること。雑味が全く感じられなくなるまで発酵した醪こそが、ちゃんとした辛口だと自分は考えます」同：加藤克則
飲み頃がきたら蔵出し
久保本家の酒は、「飲み頃がきたら蔵出し」。酒造年度３０BY〜０１BYの今現在において久保本家より蔵出しされてくるのは２４BY〜２８BY。雄大な時間の流れの中で睡龍は満を持して蔵出しされていきます。こんなリリースの仕方ができる蔵はフランスやイタリアのごく限られたワイナリーにしかありません。
加藤杜氏は「生酛の酒は造ってから５年は経たないと飲めない」と言います。じっくりと時間をかけ、鍛え上げられた蔵付き酵母により完全発酵した純粋で強固な酒は、その真価を発揮するにも時間を要するのです。そのため、生酛造りの睡龍はどれも過去のヴィンテージのものが現行リリースされているのです。ただし、生酛のどぶは、醪を多量に含み、口当たりがまろやかなため、比較的早く飲める、とのこと。
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