Sake Matsuri debuts inaugural Singapore Sake Awards

Singapore will see premier sake festival Sake Matsuri Singapore return for yet another 2022 edition, this time with the inaugural Singapore Sake Awards.

Buoyed from an extremely successful festival earlier this year, premier craft sake festival Sake Matsuri Singapore will return for its second 2022 run. The upcoming edition – which will take place on Saturday 5 November 2022 – is set to showcase more than 200 sakes, including competition winners, seasonal releases and bottles that will be made available in Singapore for the first time.

This fifth edition of Sake Matsuri will see the event split into two separate tasting sessions (11am to 2pm and 3pm to 6pm). Attendees for each session can look forward to a jaw-dropping range of different styles of sakes, ranging from elegant Junmai Daiginjo and traditional Kimoto styles to seasonal releases and even rare aged sakes.

For example festival goers can look for the Kanemasu Domaine Takahashi Junmai Ginjo 2021 from the Niigata brewery, a sake inspired by a maison from France’s Burgundy winemaking region, or Okura “Origin” Kikumoto Nidanjikomi Nama Genshu, made in a rich and sweeter style. Then there’s Matsumidori Brewery’s award-winning Rokkon Diamond Junmai Daiginjo, of which there are only 900 bottles made each year. Or how about the Suwaizumi Yakami Hime Rose from Tottori Prefecture’s Suwa Brewery, which uses the more unusual Tamasakae and Asamurasaki purple rice varietals?

Aside from sakes, this edition also shines the spotlight on other craft alcoholic beverages such as shochu, gin and Japanese liqueurs. Gin lovers should look for the Sengetsu Craft Gin from Kumamto’s Sengetsu Shuzo Distillery, an artisanal gin made with nine botanicals including uniquely Japanese ones like hinoki cypress leaves, yuzu, amanatsu orange, and green tea leaves. Interested in trying shochu? There’s the Hojun Hettsui Neko Shochu from Miyazaki’s Ochiai Distillery made with sweet potato, for example.

Leading up to the festival, sake enthusiasts can also look forward to a lineup of masterclasses, including a workshop on the regionality of Japanese sake and a shochu masterclass.

Singapore Sake Awards 2022

Something new for Sake Matsuri Singapore? The 2022 edition will see the launch of the inaugural Singapore Sake Awards, possibly Singapore’s first-ever awards competition that focuses on sake.

The competition will cover three main award categories and three special awards:

• Best Junmai Daiginjo/Daiginjo (Gold, Silver, Bronze)
• Best Junmai Ginjo/Ginjo (Gold, Silver, Bronze)
• Best Junmai/Honjozo (Gold, Silver, Bronze)
• Best of Festival — the pinnacle of the awards, recognising the sake that most impressed the judges
• Best Value-for-Money Sake
• Sake Matsuri Most Popular Sake Award — awarded via popular vote by Sake Matsuri’s festival attendees

A judging panel of seven judges, comprising some of the most distinguished names in Singapore’s sake industry and from the region, will assess the sakes. What’s particularly interesting about the judging process for Singapore Sake Awards is the use of bottles available from the consumer market, rather than competition bottles submitted by sake breweries. Judges will make their choices in a double blind tasting format, with full consideration of the Southeast Asian palate.

The panel will comprise os:

• Adrian Goh, Director, Inter Rice Asia Pte Ltd (Head Judge)
  IWC Judge, WSET Sake Educator, WSET&IWSC Future 50 Award
• Mr Sean Ou, DipWSET, Head of Education, The Beverage Clique Academy (Senior Judge)
  IWSC / IWC Sake Judge & Master Sake Sommelier, Japan Sake & Shochu Makers Association SEA Representative
• Elliot Faber, Co-Founder of Sake Central and Sunday’s Spirits (Senior Judge)
  Sake Samurai, producer of “SAKE: The History, Stories & Craft of Japan’s Artisanal Breweries”
• Daisuke Shibuya, Senior Manager, SFBI Pte Ltd – ASI Sommelier Diploma Gold, IWC Sake Judge
• Andrew Ang, Director, Kirei Japanese Food Supply (Pte) Ltd – UK SSA Certified Sake Sommelier
• Cheong Wai Lung, Founder, Ryu Sake, UK SSA Certified Sake Sommelier
• Olivia Chey, Sake & Shochu Sommelier, Kurara, WSET Certified Sake Educator

Sake Matsuri Singapore 2022 Festival Details

For more information or to purchase tickets, visit www.sakematsuri.sg.

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