135 East Hyogo Dry Gin 750ml

135 East Hyogo Dry Gin comes from the Kaikyo Distillery in Akashi, a coastal city in Japan's Hyogo Prefecture, where master distiller Kimio Yonezawa leads production. The release marks a century of the Yonezawa family's involvement in Japanese craft spirits, and the gin takes its name from the Akashi Meridian, the line of 135 degrees east longitude that runs directly past the distillery.

The gin is distilled from a base of both grain neutral spirit and distilled sake, built around classic London Dry botanicals like juniper, angelica, and coriander alongside a lineup of Japanese ingredients including yuzu, shiso leaf, sencha green tea, ume plum, and sansho pepper. Each botanical is distilled separately under vacuum, a technique borrowed from the perfume industry that preserves delicate aromatics that heat can otherwise destroy, before the individual distillates are carefully blended together. The finished gin is bottled at 40 percent alcohol by volume.

The nose opens with bright juniper and leafy herbal notes, followed by fresh lime and a touch of caraway. Sansho pepper brings a gentle tingle of spice, while sencha lends a creamy, green tea softness through the middle. The finish is long and citrusy, closing with a whisper of ginger warmth.