NOVIIML Ranking - Japanese Extremely Rare , Ultra Premium, Yamagata Yukiwakamaru White Rice, 山形米の新品種「雪若丸」Special Corp -【精米】山形県産 白米 雪若丸 (11 Pound)

I grew up eating rice and spent a decade living in Japan before moving to another country. This is the best rice I’ve bought, period.

I've been really enjoying this rice. Aroma, check - a mild savory graininess that really works well. Texture, check - great balance of not too hard and not too soft. Works equally beautifully with saucy dishes or as sushi. Also stands up pretty well to the fridge, remaining relatively soft even when cold. Flavor, minor deduction - not quite enough going on there for full marks.A couple of other minor deductions:- First of all, I'm not sure what's going on but I've noticed while washing this rice that it is exceptionally dusty as compared to the various other brands I've tried over the past few years. Whereas I might have to give a normal koshihikari 6 or 7 rinses, this one will require more along the lines of 10 or 12.- Second, the listing here on Amazon as well as the bag both boast that they provide harvest and milling dates. But the bag says, when you look at the milling date area on the back, that the date can be found at the bottom of the front of the bag. I've looked at every inch of the bag a few times now, and there is no date anywhere. Anyway, I think the rice is reasonably fresh. It's certainly behaving well. But I'm not an expert on what extremely fresh rice should taste like.For my taste, this rice is pretty close to ideal. Definitely recommend giving it a shot!Note: I cook this (and all short grain rice) using a Zojirushi NS-ZAC18, with the "sushi" level of water, on "harder" cooking mode.