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The Warrior's Blend, by Shichi Hon Yari is brightly aromatic, with scents of pear, apple blossom, herbs, and oceanic breeze. It is lively on the palate, with a firm and bright acidity that would match nicely with rich and fatty dishes. This is a sturdy High-polish sake with a crisp, angular body whose liveliness borders on effervescence. 

We tried it at a tasting featuring sake that show well after long periods of time being open. Warrior's Blend showed a clear and astonishing endurance. At 6 months after being opened, stored at room temperature, little was missing from the profile of a freshly opened bottle, aside from a slight effervescent lift. The liveliness, fireworks, and acidity that intrigue me the most about this sake all remained unscathed! If anything, a note of roasted nuts had joined the party in the 6-month candidate. Although the common rule in sake is that you should try to finish a bottle within a month (or so) of opening it, I'm constantly surprised at sakes like this, when they deliciously defy my previous expectations.

Warrior's Blend is brewed with a unique rice called Ginfukubi, which is a cross between Yamada Nishiki and a Shiga-native sake rice called Tamazakae. The rice is polished to 55%. Shichi Hon Yari only does a single in-bottle pasteurization, which preserves more flavor and liveliness than the industry standard two-time pasteurization; hence the "Half-raw" tag.

Shichi Hon Yari is made at the 3rd oldest brewery in Japan, the Tomita Brewery. Tomita was founded in the 1540s and is run today by their 15th generation owner and brewmaster, Yasunobu Tomita.