Immediately showing the yeasty, bisquity nose of a “namazake,†this sake is luscious, fruity, and soft on the palate. It is a -20 on the Sake Meter Scale, which identifies it as very fruity.\n \n Distillery Information\n Joto Sake LLC was founded in 2005 by Henry Sidel, who studied Japanese at Carleton College in Minnesota and lived in Japan as a homestay student. After graduating from Carleton, Henry went into the food and beverage industry, working for Ciao Bella Gelato, Brooklyn Brewery, and Belvedere Vodka. Henry discovered sake in 1999 at Sakagura, one of the first restaurants in the U.S. to have a book as its sake menu. Amazed by the geographical diversity and variety of sake, Henry dove into the category, buying books, going to tastings, buying sake, and taking tasting notes. From 1999-2001, Henry also completed the Executive MBA program at NYU-Stern with a fellowship from Carleton. He was eager to apply his learnings and found the perfect case study with Joto. Henry took the entrepreneurial leap in 2005 with three breweries, distributing in New York State only. From there, he built the portfolio, the Joto team, and national distribution. With Joto Sake, Henry wanted to create a sake portfolio that had the same approach and reputation as the best wine companies. He modeled Joto Sake after Kobrand Wine and Spirits, the New York–based wine importer and marketer that was founded in 1944.
