Takagi Shuzo

高木酒造 Takagi Shuzo
Takagi Shuzo sake brewery — watercolor illustration
Prefecture Yamagata Tohoku (東北)
Founded 1615
Water Source Draws from underground springs in Yamagata's Murayama district, fed by snowmelt from the Zao mountain range.

About

Takagi Shuzo in Murayama produces the mythical Juyondai (Fourteenth Generation), arguably Japan's most coveted and difficult-to-obtain sake. Current president Takagi Akitsuna, the 15th generation, transformed this small family brewery into a cult phenomenon. Juyondai's layered complexity, impeccable balance, and extreme scarcity command astronomical secondary market prices.