There are two types of delicious sake: clear and cloudy.
Kitsugi Sake Brewery Ltd.
A new American-made sake is poised to revolutionize the industry.
Oishii Sake will debut in Florida next month and will be available online in 48 states, with sales set to expand to New York, Nevada and California in the fourth quarter.
“There was a huge need for someone to launch a recognized sake brand in the U.S. market,” says Buzzy Sklar, founder of Oishii’s parent company, Kintsugi Sake, and a 30-plus year hospitality industry veteran. “Kintsugi was the first idea — a premium sake in a unique, beautiful package. Then the idea of Oishii came to fruition.”
The idea behind Oishii was to “build a product brand for Joe and Jane America that would be a recognized brand in local restaurants at a more affordable price point,” he says.
The challenge for many Americans, according to Scalar, is that they can’t really tell the difference between brands of sake. “It’s impossible to tell the difference between a $3,000 bottle and a $20 bottle,” he says. “Most sake comes in nondescript, cheap bottles and labels, making it really hard to tell the good from the bad. Simply put, when it comes to sake, consumers really don’t know what to do.”
According to Mr. Sculler, many consumers enjoy sake but don’t know what they particularly like about different sakes, nor do they know how to order them. “My wife and I always order sake when we go out to eat Japanese food, but we never order the same bottle twice,” Mr. Sculler said.
“It’s very hard to remember the sake you’ve had in the past if you don’t know the name or the packaging,” he continues. “I started taking pictures of the bottles to help me remember, and that’s when it dawned on me that there was a demand in the market and I needed to establish a brand in the sake category.”
Scalar, the former CEO and founder of J.F. Hayden’s Liqueurs & Tropical Distillers, had been working in another liquor business before retiring in September 2023. He and his team began work on Oishii in October.
Oishii, which means “delicious” in Japanese, comes in two varieties: Nigori Junmai Sake and Clear Junmai Sake. The Nigori flavor has a light, sweet taste with notes of banana and melon. The Clear flavor has a light, sweet taste with notes of pear and melon. Both have a suggested retail price of $29.99.
The bottles themselves are made of semi-opaque glass and feature a label with a large stylized “O” in the center and the word “Oishii.” “Customers drink sake, but they just don’t remember what brand they ordered,” says Sculler. “Our bottles don’t even have Japanese writing on them, but we use Japanese brewing methods that are hundreds of years old.”
Oishii is perfect for low-ABV cocktails, but is also delicious on its own. Each version of Oishii is made with Titan rice from Arkansas, water from the Blue Ridge Mountains, koji and yeast. “You can enjoy Oishii the same way you would enjoy a New Zealand Sauvignon Blanc, but it’s better for you,” Sklar says. “It’s refreshing and fruity, but without the sulfates.”
Later this year, Sklar and his team will be releasing Kintsugi Sake #40, a premium sake made with popular Yamada Nishiki rice polished to 40 degrees. “Kintsugi Sake has notes of honeydew, pear and fig, and is extremely light on the palate,” Sklar says. “It will be available in very limited quantities, priced at around $299 a bottle.”
