NEW YORK, Dec. 9 /PRNewswire/ -- After four years in development, Samurai Love Sake® (www.samurailovesake.com) is about to launch in the United States - a move Founder and CEO Marco Liuzzo hopes will help expand sake's reputation and popularity, and take it out of its traditional restaurant settings in America.

Samurai Love Sake, with its distinctive candy apple red bottle and irreverent name, will hit liquor stores, hotels, clubs and bars beginning in January 2010. The suggested retail price is $32 per bottle. Handcrafted, this premium sake carries a full-bodied flavor, layered with earthy aromas. "Samurai" is made from the finest ingredients and the freshest, soft water (low mineral content) of Niigata, Japan, giving it an extraordinarily clear and smooth taste.

Southern Wine & Spirits of New York will distribute the sake on the East Coast, from which the fledging spirit company will expand into other territories. A major marketing campaign will begin prior to Valentine's Day, highlighting the romantic qualities of this "love" sake. Internationally recognized, award-winning mixologist, Junior Merino will act as Samurai's official mixologist, creating signature cocktails for the brand kicking off a debut drink for Valentine's Day.

Development of this project began in 2005, when Liuzzo and business partner, Eric Mahoney, came up with the idea over, what else... a glass of sake!

"We used to drink sake all the time, but could never remember the name of it the next day. All our friends said they knew nothing about sake but liked drinking it. So we thought why not create a sake especially for the Americans. We wanted exceptional quality but something that was approachable, fun and easy to remember," says 34 year old Liuzzo.

His first step in creating Samurai Love Sake was to find the perfect sake for the American market. For this, Liuzzo, his business partner and his sake consultants took three years to find, and seemingly countless tastings and dead ends. They eventually chose a 220 year old family run, award-winning sake brewery in Niigata. One of the elements that appealed to Liuzzo was the fact that true premium sakes, especially ones as clear and smooth as Samurai, are best served chilled and not warm as is traditional in Japanese restaurants in the United States.

"It is the white wine rule in reverse - the poorer quality of wine, the colder people often serve it. With sake, it's the complete opposite. Our premium sake is best served chilled to bring out its complexity and true flavor," says Liuzzo.

Liuzzo is currently the CEO of Marco Polo International, one of the largest plastics distributors in the world.

SOURCE Samurai Love Sake

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