At the "2025 National New Sake Appraisal Competition," co-sponsored by the National Research Institute of Brewing and the Japan Sake Brewers Association, both of Ozeki's "Kotobuki-gura" and "Kowa-gura" breweries received the "Gold Award" for the second consecutive year, and "Kowa-gura" received the award for the fifth consecutive year. The National New Sake Appraisal Competition is the only nationwide competition that judges the quality of sake produced in a given year.

Number of entries: 793
Award-winning sake: 411 points (sakes recognized as having excellent results)
Gold medal sake: 217 points (Among the prize-winning sakes, these are those that were recognized as having particularly excellent results.)

List of winning sakes:Award-winning sakes from the 2025 National New Sake Appraisal Competition | National Research Institute of Brewing