While matcha has flavoured KitKats for a long time, it wasn’t until early 2016 that sake flavoured these popular KitKats. Sake is easily just as quintessentially Japanese as matcha, so it’s no surprise that they were released to much fanfare. A year on, in 2017, Nestlé collaborated with Masuizumi to produce this Nestlé KitKat Masuizumi Sake.
Founded in 1893, Masiuzumi is an esteemed sake brewery from Toyama Prefecture, and their sake is used in this special release. According to Nestlé, ‘the crisp dry finish of Masuizumi’s sake paired perfectly with their white chocolate wafers’
Inside the box, these KitKats are inside packaging that’s been printed to resemble washi to resemble the beautifully wrapped sake bottle done up with a red bow on the box, which indicates a premium liquor served on special occasions. Each box contained nine individually packaged mini-bars.
Each individually packaged bar has Masiuzumi printed in calligraphy on the front.
Each mini-bar contained 0.4% alcohol, with the sake flavouring both the white chocolate sandwiching the wafers as well as the enrobing white chocolate.
The crisp and slightly fruity aroma of the sake came through just on opening the packaging. Upon tasting, the crisp notes of the sake came through at the head of each bite before developing with sweet and fruity notes into the body with the slight bitterness of the alcohol emerging in the finish. Overall the sake flavour was sophisticated, with great depth developing from the start of each bite through to the finish where it lingered pleasantly on the palate without overwhelming with the alcohol component as many alcoholic chocolates have in the West.
This Nestlé KitKat Masuizumi Sake contained 9 mini bars. It was produced in Japan and purchased in Tōkyō, Japan in 2018.