Sake competition executive committee

For all sake brewers outside of Japan!
We are thrilled to announce that the SAKE COMPETITION 2024 will be taking place!
Furthermore, we are excited to share that the oversea-brewed sake category will be
reintroduced this year. We look forward to celebrating the diversity and excellence of sakefrom around the world in this upcoming competition

The winner of the oversea-brewed sake category will be officially recognized during ouraward-winning ceremony. It would be an honor to have the winner join us at the ceremony,
which is scheduled to take place on June 12th at The Peninsula Tokyo.

SAKE COMPETITION 2023
After the 8th SAKE COMPETITION in 2019, we were forced to cancel the competition in 2020, 2021, and2022 due to the spread of the new coronavirus infection. In 2023, we were finally able to hold the SAKECOMPETITION for the first time in four years.
Due to the challenges associated with judging in the same style as before, we decided to limit the total
number of entries to 1,000 items across all four categories: "Junmai Sake," "Junmai Ginjo," "Junmai
Daiginjo," and "Super Premium" in 2023. Additionally, there was a change in judging style: we utilized
plastic cups for the preliminary judging and the kikijoko for the final judging, maintaining consistency withprevious competitions.
GOLD: top 10 sake of Junmai, Junmai Ginjo, Junmai Daiginjo
top 3 sake of Super Premium
SILVER: top 10% of each category after GOLD
2023 results・Jumai 273 entries ／GOLD 10／SILVER 18

・Jumai Ginjo 343 entries ／GOLD 10／SILVER 24
・Junmai Daiginjo 333 entries ／GOLD 10／SILVER 23

・Super Premium 51 entries ／GOLD 3／SILVER 2Other prizes
Diners Club young maker encouragement prize, JAL prize

SAKE COMPETITION 2024

SAKE COMPETITION 2024 Calendar
12 April

Entry application deadline▼
10 MayOnline application
https://forms.gle/2fWS9mduRN5RRNaEA
Shipping deadline for oversea entry▼
14 MayPreliminary Judging▼

15-16 May

*Not open to public

Final Judging / Official tasting▼

end of May*Not open to public

Announcement of the results (Gold and Silver nominees only)▼

11 JuneOfficial tasting▼

12 June*Not open to public

SAKE COMPETITION 2024 award-winning ceremonyat The Peninsula Tokyo

Special rules for oversea brewed sake category• All sake must be commercially available within July 1st 2023 to
December 31st 2024, or intended to become available within this period.
• Up to 3 entries per brewery• No specific bottle size is required. If your bottles are smaller than 500ml,
please send additional bottles. We will need at least 900ml for thejudging.

• No preliminary judging for this category.
• Our judges will score your sake with the same criteria as domestic
entries.

Entry Fee and Shipping of your sake
• Entry fee will be 18,000 yen per item
After confirming the details of your application, we will send you
an invoice by e-mail. You can either pay by bank transfer or credit
card• Please send 2 bottles of sake (720ml) by May 10th
Shipping address
2-3-3 Azabujuban, Minato-ku, Tokyo 106-0045
C/O Hasegawasaketen Inc.
Sake competition executive committee
TEL +81-3-6273-4355

If you would like to bring your sake to us, we can receive any time and we will
make sure to keep them in fridge.

• Applicants need to cover all the shipping costIf you have any questions, please do not hesitate to contact us

Judging
Each sake tasted will be scored with 1 to 5 points as follows:
1, Outstanding 2, Good 3, Standard 4, Slightly off standard 5, Doesn’t meet standard

Our judges will scored based on ,1) balance of flavor ( aroma and taste) : orthonasal aroma, retronasal aroma, taste, aftertaste. Judges will see the balance of each and total balance of flavor.
2) features of flavor : looking for the origin of each flavor. Such as rice originated, yeast
originated, brewing process originated, etc.
3) essential elements of quality : This is quit abstract….but we usually discuss with ourjudges each year and set certain agreement in advance. Mainly look for elegance of aroma,depth, smoothness, etc.

4) drinking characteristics: compatibility with food, not too high ethyl caproate, not too
strong bitterness, etc.
Common faults that our judges give -1 point are Hine-ka and Namahine-ka. These arecaused because of over maturing and too much amino acids created, wrong timing ofpasteurization and sake is not stored properly. Smell of acid, Fukuro-ga, kami-shu are also
very common. In Junmai category, too high ethyl caproate aroma is recognized as a minus
point. This is because in our elements of quality Junmai sake which we usually drink withthe meal should not have strong aroma to disturb. Our judges tend to focus on balance.

Judging
Preliminary Judging :Fixed amount of sake is poured into multiple plastic cups, and each judge is presented with 20 cups as one set to evaluate.
Judging is done individually and there is no consultation or talk with other judges. The minimum requirement for the judges isthat they must accurately judge at least 100 items in one hour.

Final Judging :The kikijoko is used for the final judging, maintaining consistency with previous competitions. Each set of 6 kikijoko would
contain the same amount of sake, poured at the same temperature, is served to judges. One judge is responsible for
evaluating all 500 items out of a total of 1,000 entries in the final judgment. This requires significant experience and a highlevel of tasting skill.

SAKE COMPETITION award-winning ceremony
Top 10 sake from each category ( top 3 for super premium and sparkling, top 1
for oversea brewed sake) will be announced at the award wining ceremony.