November Bottle Share - Back to Orh Gao

27 Nov 2023

From the SakeCraft Times archive, first published 27 Nov 2023. Dates and plans mentioned are as they were then.

This month's Sake Bottle Share was held on 12 Nov at Orh Gao!

Ive been eagerly waiting for this edition of bottle share. This is due to some of the following:

1. Post Japan Travels - This is the first bottle share where quite a number of us are returning from Japan. This also means fresh sakes, new experiences, rare flavours etc. I too was spoilt for choice re what sakes to bring. Whether its Doburokus or Shiboritates, whether its rare labels or just fresh experiences. Danielle and I were particularly excited about what bottles would appear this month. Fresh from my trip to Japan, I had probably 10 bottles to choose from, all of which were exciting to me. Should it be Isojiman with Omachi? Should it be a Noguchi Hiyaoroshi? As I said, spoilt for choice. As it turned out, we had almost 30 diff bottles to try over the evening as you may note from the pic below.

I eventually went with a Kid Shiboritate. Perhaps aiming for the wow factor of it being one of the first few shiboritates to be tasted in Singapore. Downside of this is that it was hand carried back, and always a chance it may have developed in flight. Well I wouldn’t know. I didn’t get a chance to taste it in Japan but I went with it anyway.

2. Back to Orh Gao - This was held back at Ooh Gao. Thanks to Charlie for hosting, we were back in this intimate space where I first attended a bottle share for Sake (on 3rd June 2023). This intimate space allows for the whole group to interact and yet also for intimate conversations to take place (which has proven to be quite crucial for networking for everyone).  Upcoming Photo Dump for the evening in no particular order.

3. Sake is community - there is always something heartwarming about a group of people gathering around sake. Maybe it’s because the community is so small that we always help each other out (somms in trade helping each other, somms sharing with new drinkers, sharing good deals etc). It does feel like a break for the regular corporate world where everything is so competitive where my win is your loss. The Sake bottle share has always been a mix of people from newbies to seasoned folks. Everyone just willing to share.This time was no different.

So far it feels like with sake, everyone wins. As a Somm in trade, I’ve benefited greatly from the generosity of many around me in the trade. Whether it’s (in no particular order) Charles/Joan, Alex, Joshua, Jack, Danielle, Bonez, Keiji, Eddie, Maria, Rong, Melvyn, Reuben, Raymond and many more within the community, I would not have grown tremendously in experience had I not been blessed to meet you all as we gathered around Sake.

4.. Bottle Share - This was a night of many exquisite sakes. We had a mix of oldies (Urakasumi a notable mention) to edgier stuff like Terada Honke and Doburokus. Personal favourite for the evening must have the Hanatomoe Mizumoto. Featuring some of the bottles below as captured by Alex (thanks for the incredible photos!). Till the next bottle share in December! its going to be massive!