Rihaku "Dreamy Clouds"

A little background before the post proper: B and I have recently been exploring sake. I figured I'd track the adventures here -- it's as good a place as any -- and you might all enjoy it as well. We are far from connoisseurs -- just starting out -- so you can say you were with us from the beginning...or close to it.

Rihaku, "Dreamy Clouds"
Tokubetsu Junmai Nigori
Shimane prefecture
SMV: +3
Acidity: 1.6
Unfortified
~$26

We picked this one out at Tamura's (our local source for an excellent wine selection, our Illy coffee, and poke) based on the shelftag and it turned out it was also on the list of Fifty Sakes to Try in Sake: A Modern Guide (by Beau Timken and Sara Desaran, Chronicle Books, 2006), my primary source of information thus far.

We'd tried a couple of cheaper nigori sakes before, without knowing anything about it, and liked them fine. (A nigori sake, by the way, is one that is left unfiltered. The white sediment is rice polishings.)

Rihaku's "Dreamy Clouds," however, has blown us away entirely. It was absolutely transporting.

Food: Timken recommends "bar snacks, smoked fish, and macaroni and cheese." So I figured it should work ok with our fancy grilled cheese (mozz cheese, pesto, chicken panini). We tasted it before eating, in case the food was too strong, but we enjoyed it just as much once we started our meal so our choice was ok. (The next night we finished the bottle -- a small glass each -- and I don't remember what we were eating, but I do remember that it was an unsuccessful pairing.)

P.S. I just noticed I have consecutive postings about clouds, in a way. Funny.