Skip to content
Guida

Akari Ten-Year Koshu Junenbi, 720ml

Brewed in 2015, cellared ten years, poured amber

¥16,500tax included≈ $111

Limited

灯 十年古酒 十年灯 720ml

8 left

Where should we send it?

Quantity
1

Apple Pay and Google Pay accepted

  • Visa
  • Mastercard
  • JCB
  • American Express
  • Apple Pay
  • Google Pay

Payment is handled by Stripe. Your card number never reaches us.

Akari Ten-Year Koshu Junenbi, 720ml

¥16,500

Arrives as early as Mon 28 Sept

Shipping ¥990 to most of Japan

  • A Japanese addressYes
  • Your hotel in JapanYes
  • OverseasIn preparation

We can't ship alcohol overseas yet; the export licence is in progress. Items without alcohol can be sent abroad today.

See shipping cost and timing

Shipping by zone: Anywhere in Japan ¥990 · Domestic shipping is free on orders over ¥15,000.

Shipped direct from the brewery, Mon–Thu only

You can choose a delivery date and time slot (Japanese addresses only)

The sale of alcohol to persons under 20 is prohibited by law in Japan.

What is it?

A junmai daiginjo brewed at Akari Shuzo in 2015 and left in their 10°C cellar for ten years. Amber in the glass, with dried apricot and caramel on the nose. Three hundred bottles are released a year, each in a paulownia-wood box. 17% ABV, 720ml.

Good for

  • Milestone gifts where the number of years is the point: a 60th birthday, a company anniversary
  • Whisky and sherry drinkers
  • People who have worked through the usual sake styles and want the next thing
  • Retirements and appointments, with the recipient's name on the noshi

What does it taste like?

  • Colour: amber, deepened gradually over the ten years
  • Aroma: dried apricot, caramel, dried shiitake, old paper
  • Palate: sweetness and bitterness arrive together, with a long savoury tail from the amino acids
  • Finish around twenty seconds, more than three times the flagship
  • 17% ABV: a small pour, slowly

What's the specification?

Akari Ten-Year Koshu Junenbi, 720ml — What's the specification?
ClassificationJunmai Daiginjo, ten-year aged koshu
RiceYamada Nishiki (grown in Hyogo)
Polishing ratio50%lower means more grain milled away
Sake meter value+1about neutral
Acidity1.81.4 is typical
Alcohol17%
Volume720ml
Serve atRoom temperature, Warmed, On the rocks
RegionIga, Mie Prefecture
BreweryAkari Shuzo
ProcessBrewed 2015, bottle-aged ten years at 10°C

How does this compare with our other sake?

Akari Ten-Year Koshu Junenbi, 720ml — How does this compare with our other sake?
SpecAkari Ten-Year Koshu Junenbi, 720ml (this page)Akari Junmai Daiginjo Hatsuakari, 720mlAkari Nigori Yukiakari, 720mlAkari Junmai Hibiakari, 720ml
Price, tax included¥16,500¥8,800¥3,300¥2,860
ClassificationJunmai Daiginjo, ten-year aged koshuJunmai DaiginjoJunmai NigoriJunmai
RiceYamada Nishiki (grown in Hyogo)Yamada Nishiki (grown in Hyogo)Kaminoho (grown in Mie)Kaminoho (grown in Mie)
Polishing ratio50%40%60%60%
Sake meter value+1+2-8+4
Acidity1.81.31.71.6
Alcohol17%15.5%14%15%
Volume720ml720ml720ml720ml
Serve atRoom temperature, Warmed, On the rocksChilled, Room temperatureChilled, On the rocksChilled, Room temperature, Warmed
RegionIga, Mie PrefectureIga, Mie PrefectureIga, Mie PrefectureIga, Mie Prefecture
BreweryAkari ShuzoAkari ShuzoAkari ShuzoAkari Shuzo
ProcessBrewed 2015, bottle-aged ten years at 10°CPasteurised once, free-run middle cutCoarse-strained, pasteurised oncePasteurised once
AvailabilityIn stockIn stockIn stockIn stock

How do you drink it?

  • 01

    Room temperature, 18–20°C. Too cold and the aroma shuts down

  • 02

    30ml in a small glass; warming it in your hand, brandy-style, works

  • 03

    Gently warmed to 40°C, the caramel note lifts

  • 04

    Also good over a single ice cube, which takes the edge off 17%

  • 05

    Pairs with grilled eel, dried persimmon, blue cheese and dried fruit

The brewing hall at Akari Shuzo: a row of fermentation tanks and the wooden stair beside them

The maker

About the maker

In the winter of 2015, Akari Shuzo filled six tanks with junmai daiginjo. One of them never shipped. The toji thought that year's sake was hard and would not be interesting yet, so the bottles went to the back of the cellar.

From the person who chose it

Every February they release the bottling from ten years earlier. The 2026 release is the last 300 bottles of the 2015 tank.

— Gate Japan team, Guida

Read about this brewery

Can it be sent as a gift?

A gift box wrapped with a noshi paper band showing the occasion inscription

Presented in a paulownia-wood box with a bilingual certificate stating the brewing year, the storage temperature and the analytical values. Noshi paper can be inscribed with a name, and the whole box is wrapped.

Noshi is the paper slip that traditionally accompanies a gift in Japan. Outer noshi goes over the wrapping, so the occasion is visible at a glance. Inner noshi goes under it, for a more understated gift, and is the usual choice for anything shipped.

Outer noshi
Inner noshiWrapping paper
  • Noshi, outer or inner
  • Gift box or furoshiki
  • Message card
  • Choose a delivery date and time slot (Japanese addresses)
  • No invoice in the box

Questions

Where in Japan can you deliver this?
Anywhere in Japan. Shipping is ¥990 (ambient delivery) and takes 2–4 business days after dispatch.
Can you deliver to my hotel while I am in Japan?
Yes. Give us the name on your booking and your check-in date and we aim to arrive the day before you do. The rate is the same ¥990 as any Japanese address.
Can you ship this abroad?
Shipping alcohol out of Japan needs an export licence for liquor wholesalers, which we are still obtaining. Until then we cannot send it abroad.
Can I age it further at home?
You can. Below 15°C, dark, standing upright, it will keep developing for another five years. Avoid anywhere the temperature swings, such as a kitchen shelf. A fridge is safe but effectively pauses the ageing.
How long once opened?
Aged sake changes slowly once opened. Refrigerated, it is fine for one to two months. It is a bottle made for drinking a little at a time.
Is the dark colour a sign it has gone off?
It is what ageing does: sugars and amino acids react to produce both the colour and the aroma. Sake that has genuinely spoiled smells of solvent or glue, which this does not.
Any allergens?
Rice and rice koji only; none of Japan's declarable allergens. 17% ABV, 720ml.