This big bottle is our"friends over"sake. Kubota Hyakujyu Honjozo is incredibly versatile. Super classy, but very much our go-to party sake. Serve it lightly chilled for a crisp experience or gently warmed to bring out its rich and umami flavours. Savoury and deeply comforting, this gorgeous dry sake displays notes of roasted mushroom, walnut, cacao nibs, coffee, orange peel, sesame seeds, macadamia and caramel popcorn. It's as good as it sounds. The word"Honjozo"denotes that a little brewer's alcohol is added to the fermenting sake mash. As sake is watered down to a standard level, this means that the resulting rice wine is incredibly smooth. The alcohol is actually added because it makes certain aromas and flavours more vibrant and makes the final sake more stable, this is a bonus because it means that if you don't finish this 720ml bottle in one sitting, it will fade less quickly than a Junmai (sake with no added brewer's alcohol). This one has been made in a"Tokubetsu"(meaning'special') style, this designation means that the rice is milled to a polishing ratio of 60% (i.e. 40% of each grain is polished away), which is why it's slightly more savoury than its more polished compadres. And that's what we love about it, especially when you pair it with anything roasted, umami ramen broths, mapo tofu or big, sharing-sized, wintry stews. Kubota is made at Asahi Shuzo in Niigata, a mountainous Japanese prefecture full of rivers and valleys, and home to Mount Tanigawa. Firm believers that"the quality of sake can never exceed the quality of its ingredients", Asahi Brewery use only the finest raw materials. They work closely with local farmers to ensure access to the ultimate sake-brewing rice and keep their production techniques a well-guarded secret.£4.44 per 100.00ml