Advintage Sakes - 2026 Sake Month Sampler #1

Sake Sampler #1 
The Best of Modern Japanese Sake | Six Breweries | Six Prefectures
A $270 Value for Just $210

Sampler includes 1 bottle each:

KID "Natsu no Shippu" (Summer's Strong Wind)
Heiwa Shuzou — Junmai Ginjo — (Wakayama Prefecture, Kinki Region)

Heiwa Shuzou was founded in 1928 on the grounds of a temple that stood for over 500 years outside Kainan City in Wakayama Prefecture. The brewery's name, meaning "peace" or "harmony," was adopted after World War II, and full-time sake production began in 1957. What sets Heiwa apart is their brewing water — the extraordinarily soft Koyasan Nansui spring water flows down from Koyasan temple, a UNESCO World Heritage site, and forms the signature foundation of every sake they produce. The brewery's KID brand, whose name combines "Kishu" (the ancient name of Wakayama) and "fudo" (environment), has propelled Heiwa to the forefront of modern Japanese sake, earning back-to-back International Wine Challenge Sake Brewer of the Year honors in 2019 and 2020 — a feat never achieved by any other brewery before or since.

Natsu no Shippu — "summer's strong wind" — is Heiwa's seasonal summer release, brewed from Gohyakumangoku rice polished to 50% and fermented with an expressive quartet of modern yeast strains. True to its name, this sake is built for warm-weather drinking: serve it very cold and let the brisk acidity and soft minerality do the work. The nose opens with fresh pear and fennel with a whisper of spearmint, leading into a palate that is light-bodied, crisp, and gently creamy, with clean rice umami threading through the finish. SMV +4 keeps it pleasantly dry without austerity — refreshing from first sip to last.

Houou Biden "Mikumari" Fly High Cloudy
Kobayashi Shuzo — Junmai Daiginjo Nigori — (Tochigi Prefecture, Kanto Region)

Kobayashi Shuzo was established in 1872 along the historic road leading to Nikko's sacred mountain range in Tochigi Prefecture, in a village then known as Mitamura — "Beautiful Fields" — for its sweeping rice paddies and abundant pure groundwater drawn from the Nikko mountains. The brewery underwent a profound renaissance in 1995 when fifth-generation owner Masaki Kobayashi returned to lead the family business alongside his wife Mayumi, who assumed the role of Toji — one of an exceptionally small number of female master brewers in Japan. Under Mayumi's leadership, the brewery embraced deeply traditional methods: rice is still steamed in an enormous cast iron cauldron over direct fire, koji is made entirely by hand, and drip-press filtration relies on gravity alone. The brand name Houou Biden reflects the brewery's spirit — "Houou" meaning the mythical phoenix, "Biden" honoring those beautiful fields of its birthplace.

Mikumari takes its name from the Shinto deity who governs water sources and the distribution of flowing water — an apt tribute, as the sake is brewed using sacred spring water drawn exclusively from the historic shrines and temples of Nikko, a source entrusted to Kobayashi Shuzo alone. Brewed to Junmai Daiginjo grade from Yumesasara rice polished to 50% and fermented with the brewery's proprietary house yeast, Mikumari is a nigori unlike most — bottled close to its naturally pressed state through careful single-bottle pasteurization, it arrives silky and delicately cloudy rather than heavy or sweet. The nose carries soft muscat, green apple, and citrus, while the palate offers a clear, clean entry with gentle Japanese-style sweetness, bright grapefruit acidity, and savory umami that builds gracefully before finishing crisp and refreshing. A premium and elegant nigori that sets a new standard for the style.

Akabu Junmai
Akabu Shuzo — Junmai — (Iwate Prefecture, Tohoku Region)

Akabu Shuzo was founded in 1896 in the coastal town of Otsuchi, Iwate Prefecture — the brewery's name itself derived from the Akahama district facing Otsuchi Bay where it first stood. The 2011 Great East Japan Earthquake and tsunami completely destroyed the brewery, leaving nothing standing. Through perseverance and a national reconstruction subsidy, a new brewery was built in Morioka City in 2013, and the current era of Akabu was born in 2014 under sixth-generation master brewer Ryunosuke Furudate, who took over at just 22 years old. Rather than rebuilding the past, Furudate assembled a young, passionate team — many with no brewing background at all — and set about creating something new. Within two years, Akabu won Gold at the Annual Japan Sake Awards and was recognized as the number one ranked sake producer in all of Iwate Prefecture. It is a genuine story of resilience reborn as excellence.

The Akabu Junmai is the brewery's purest expression of its philosophy: clean, fresh, and honest. Brewed from Gin Ginga rice — a local Iwate variety — polished to 60% and fermented with Iwate Prefecture yeast, it is pasteurized only once to preserve maximum vibrancy. The nose opens with layers of white peach and the bright lift of grapefruit, framed by a distinctive fifth-taste umami character. On the palate the sake is medium-bodied and subtly fruity, with a fine-tuned acidity that keeps everything animated and alive. The finish is clean, slightly savory, and persistently inviting — the kind of sake that disappears from the glass faster than expected. Beautiful with yakitori, roast beef, or anything off the grill.

Kamoshibito Kuheiji "Sauvage" 2024
Banjo Jozo — Junmai Daiginjo — (Aichi Prefecture, Tokai Region)

Banjo Jozo has been producing sake in Nagoya, Aichi Prefecture since 1647 — nearly four centuries of unbroken brewing history. The Kamoshibito Kuheiji brand was launched in 1997 by 15th-generation master Kuheiji Kuno, whose ambition was nothing less than repositioning Japanese sake as a world-class beverage on par with the great wines of France. To pursue this vision, he acquired rice fields in Hyogo Prefecture's legendary Kurodashō region to grow the brewery's own Yamadanishiki, and in 2013 established Domaine Kuheiji in Burgundy's Morey-Saint-Denis, producing both sake from French-grown rice and actual Burgundian wine. The brewery produces exclusively ginjo and daiginjo grades and is regarded as a cult brand in Japan — intimate in scale, fanatical in quality, and deeply shaped by the French concept of terroir translated into sake.

"Sauvage" — French for "wild" — is Kuheiji's homage to Omachi, the oldest sake-brewing rice variety in Japan, first discovered in 1859 and the genetic ancestor of many modern sake rices. Where the brewery's flagship Eau du Désir is built from Yamadanishiki, Sauvage uses the same polishing and fermentation protocols but allows Omachi's wilder, earthier character to lead. The nose is gentle but complex — green grass, botanicals, and earthy koji-derived notes of clean mushroom that give way to ripe tropical fruit. On the palate it arrives with volume and surprising texture, a naturally light effervescence reminiscent of young Burgundy, and a bright bitterness on the finish like biting into fresh citrus peel. With less structural tension than Yamadanishiki, Sauvage fills every corner of the palate — bold, expressive, and completely singular. Best enjoyed in a wine glass, which is exactly what this brewery had in mind.

Masumi "Shiro" Sake Matinee
Miyasaka Brewing Company — Junmai Ginjo — (Nagano Prefecture, Chubu Region)

Miyasaka Brewing Company has been making sake in the alpine lake town of Suwa since 1662 — over 360 years of continuous production from the same family who, generations before, served as samurai to the lords of the Suwa region. The brewery takes its name from the Masumi mirror, an ancient national treasure enshrined at the nearby Suwa Taisha, one of Japan's oldest and most sacred Shinto shrines. The name translates as "clarity" or "truth" — ideals that have guided the brewery's philosophy ever since. Masumi's place in sake history was cemented in 1946 when a naturally occurring yeast was discovered in one of the brewery's fermentation tanks, producing sake of extraordinary fragrance and elegance. Designated Brewing Association Yeast No. 7, it remains to this day the most widely used sake yeast in Japan, found in well over half of all breweries — a single discovery from one brewery in Nagano that quietly changed the entire industry.

Shiro — meaning "white" — is Masumi's "Sake Matinee," conceived as a lighter-bodied sake for those seeking something graceful enough to sip through an entire evening without fatigue. Brewed from a blend of Miyamanishiki and Yamadanishiki rice polished to 55%, and fermented with Masumi's proprietary descendant of the legendary No. 7 yeast, Shiro lands at just 12% ABV — notably lower than most premium sake. The nose is delicate and inviting: mild banana, apple, and white flowers. On the palate, gently sweet and brightened by a finely etched acidity, with a savory umami thread that keeps the sake anchored and food-friendly. The finish is clean, soft, and completely effortless. This is the bottle in the pack that will pair with nearly anything on the table — light seafood, salads, delicate preparations of all kinds — and will win over wine drinkers who have never given sake a serious chance.

Akitabare "Koshiki Junzukuri" Northern Skies
Akita Brewing Company — Junmai — (Akita Prefecture, Tohoku Region)

Akita Brewing Company was founded in 1908 in Akita City, the capital of Akita Prefecture in Japan's far northern Tohoku region — a land of deep winters, pure snowmelt water, and a sake culture so deeply embedded in daily life that it boasts the highest per-capita sake consumption of any region in Japan. The brewery has built its identity entirely around the principle of refusing compromise: when modernization promised greater volume through updated equipment and shortcuts, Akitabare declined. Some of the wooden rice-soaking basins and iron kama steamers now in daily use at the brewery are over a century old. Fermentation proceeds at low temperatures for up to 25 days — far longer than most producers — and much of the work is still done by hand in small lots. The brewery's president described their ethos plainly: "Fierce adherence to tradition, skillful adaptation to change."

"Koshiki Junzukuri" translates as "the old style, pure process" — and the name earns it honestly. Brewed from Akita's own Gin no Sei rice and fermented with the regional Akita Konno No. 12 yeast, this Junmai is the antithesis of the attention-seeking modern sake style. The nose is understated: light mineral, a whisper of rice, faint spice. On the palate, pleasingly dry and quite mild, with a subtle candied sweetness that yields to clean grain and lingering mineral. The mouthfeel is smooth and unadorned, the finish dry and unhurried. This is the sake in the pack that rewards patience — a "three-sip sake" that reveals its depth gradually, the kind of bottle a seasoned sake drinker will return to again and again. Multiple gold medals at the U.S. National Sake Appraisal. Goes beautifully with simply prepared seafood, tempura, or anything that benefits from a clean, dry counterpoint.