MUWA Bourbon Barrel Aged Junmai: The Sake for People Who Drink Whisky

Every so often someone sits down, looks at the sake list, and says they don't really drink sake.

This is the bottle we open for them.

What Does MUWA Mean?

MUWA comes from mu, dream, and wa, harmony.

It's a line from Takara Sake USA built around what you can do with four ingredients: rice, water, koji, and yeast. Takara calls place the fifth ingredient, and here that place is Berkeley, California, where they've been brewing since 1983.

Worth saying plainly: this is American sake. Not an import, not a licensing deal. Brewed in California.

How It's Made

Calrose rice, milled to 70%. Junmai, rice, water, koji, and yeast, with no added alcohol.

After brewing, the undiluted sake goes into bourbon barrels and sits. Because it's never cut with water, it comes out at 18% ABV, which is high for sake and closer to a fortified wine.

The barrels do what barrels do. Oak, vanilla, and baking spice move into a sake that already had richness and savory weight to start with.

Flavor Profile

Nose: Bourbon, oak, sherry, lemon peel, apple cider

Palate: Rich, rounded, textured, vanilla and spice over rice sweetness

Finish: Woody and dry, longer than you'd expect

It pours with a yellow tint, which throws people. That's the barrel, and it's a good sign.

Why We Poured It

Two reasons.

The first is practical. Our whisky list is one of the deepest things we do, and a lot of our regulars come in for it. MUWA is the bridge, somewhere for a whisky drinker to go on the sake list without changing their whole palate.

The second is that it's genuinely good. We're not interested in carrying a novelty, and at 18% with real barrel character this holds its own next to bottles that cost more.

How We Serve It

Three ways, and all three are legitimate.

Chilled, around 50°F — crisp and dry, with the bourbon sitting underneath.

Neat at room temperature — the fullest version, with oak, fruit, and spice all at once.

Warm, around 100°F — the one people don't expect. Heat pushes the oak and baking spice forward and it turns into something like poached apple and custard. If you only try it one way, try it warm.

Pair It With

Fat and char. Miso bacon, pork kakuni, tonsouku, beef skirt steak skewers.

Warm MUWA with grilled food on a cold night is one of the better things we serve, and almost nobody orders it that way. For dessert, it goes with dorayaki about as well as a bourbon would.

Try It at Juraku

Available by the bottle at Izakaya Juraku, Lower East Side. If you've been ordering whisky here for years and never touched the sake list, start here.