"There’s nothing like Japanese craftsmanship, and Kyoto Distillery is all about the art and craft of singular gin." - Andrew Kitz, B-21 Spirits Buyer
Since its founding in 2014, Kyoto Distillery's short run in existence has been one stellar achievement after another, as their truly singular, stunning gins have captured the imagination and adoration of gin enthusiasts everywhere. More than that, the countless awards they've racked up over the last decade speak to the incredible devotion to craft that drives them.
Starting with a pristine (and we mean as pure as the driven snow) rice-based distillate, the team then uses thoughtfully constructed infusion recipes to create gins that are simultaneously classic and distinctive in every way. The flagship Kyoto Dry Gin is the result of hallmark botanicals like juniper and orris root combined with uniquely Japanese ingredients like yuzu, akamatsu bark (from a native red pine), and red shiso leaves. "Explosively aromatic yet balanced ... the elegance is next-level," declares B-21 Spirits buyer Andrew Kitz. It's a perfect base for any classic gin cocktail with its full weight and utterly seamless texture.
The distillery is also a hotbed of experimentation, and the Ki No Tea expression is both "a gin unlike any other" and a classic nod to one of the most important aspect of Japanese culture. Made from the same incredibly pure rice distillate as the rest of the range, the team builds the infusion around top-tier gyokuro and tencha green teas sourced from one of the prefecture's premier tea growers. With just a handful of other botanicals, the tea is indeed the centerpiece of its character, a wildly different but unquestionably beautiful profile that you need to taste to understand.
As the gin category continues to gain steam in interest and popularity, enthusiasts and neophytes alike should be looking to this world-class craft distiller for some of the most enchanting and individual expressions out there.
There’s nothing like Japanese craftsmanship, and Kyoto Distillery is all about the art and craft of singular gin. The flagship Dry Gin is at first a real classic, but it starts to show its highly unique character in pedigree in no time. Explosively aromatic yet balanced, it leads with characteristically beautiful high tones like juniper berry, juniper leaves, fresh pine tips, and bright, pure lemon and grapefruit. The elegance is next level as a touch of earthy minerality, like clean river stones, plays along underneath everything else. The palate showcases the gin’s outstanding balance, elegant yet very full and viscous. The purity of the rice spirit base is clear, and the flavor profile is much spicier and earthier than the nose, with wildly exotic root complexity front and center. Ginger, orris, and angelica all come up, followed by juniper and yuzu undertones on the finish. This is very well-worth enjoying on its own, but it will take any classic gin cocktail up several notches.
93 points, Andrew Kitz, B-21 Spirits Buyer (Jun 2026)
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