Umegae Shuzo Yokitsuki Japanese Premium Craft Gin (720ml)

Around the globe, gin is commonly made from grain based distillates. However, most Japanese gins are based on shochu. Now long-time brewer, Umegae Shuzo in Nagasaki have bought the past to the present with a new sake-based 'Gin-ovation'. Gin was first made in Japan during the Edo Period in Nagasaki for the Dutch traders living on the island of Dejima. Inspired by this history, the idea to produce gin came from the company President, Tetsuya Nagano. Sake develops an off-smell called hineka over time, so Umegae Shuzō distill it within one week of pressing. They produce gin from autumn to winter, which overlaps with the busy sake brewing season, but Nagano insists that the freshness of rice is key to Yokitsuki’s quality. The first impression is citrus, followed by a fruity sweetness, which makes sense, given Yokitsuki is characterized by non-traditional, locally grown botanicals including loquat, strawberry, lemon, mikan, and Umegae’s namesake, plum branch. Sweet and tart with acidity and intensity of flavour from the fruit, the plum branch provides a pleasant woody foundation upon which the fruity botanicals pop out. The presentation is stunning. The inaugural batch from October 2019 quickly sold out, and a second batch of around the same size in January 2020 followed suit. It takes about 2,700 bottles of sake to make 1,000 bottles of gin, so from a business standpoint, the project is expensive, but it's also demonstrated a new potential for Japan's most famous tipple. 40% Alc./Vol.