Comparison of long-term aged Japanese sake and typical aged liquors in the world

Recently, sake aged for several years to decades, called long-term aged sake, has attracted some attention. Aged liquors also exist in other countries, such as Chinese rice wine (Huangjiu) and fortified wines (Sherry, Madeira, Port). To understand the characteristics of long-term aged sake among the typical aged liquors worldwide, we analyzed and compared the flavor components and sensory characteristics of aged sake, Huangjiu, and fortified wines. Accordingly, flavor component analysis revealed a common trend toward increases in sotolon, aldehydes, polysulfides, ethyl esters, and decreases in acetate esters with age. However, the increases in aldehydes and polysulfides were more significant in sake and Huangjiu, whereas the increases in ethyl esters were more significant in fortified wines. Moreover, the concentrations and variances of acetate esters in sake were highest among the five liquor categories. Sensory evaluation revealed that sake and Huangjiu presented stronger sulfur aroma and bitter taste, whereas fortified wines presented stronger dried fruit, honey aroma and sweet taste. Furthermore, sake samples showed a larger variance in the intensity of caramel, burnt, and soy sauce aroma than did the other liquor categories. These results indicate that the compositional and sensory characteristics of the aged liquors can be grouped into sake/Huangjiu and fortified wines and that sake is featured by extensive variations in the levels of age-related components and sensory attributes.