Distilled at the Kyoto Distillery in Kyoto, Ki No Bi Kyoto Dry Gin is Japan’s first ever craft gin, and the one gin brand that has been slowly but surely working its way in many of my mid-afternoon G&Ts.

But what really sets Ki No Bi gin apart from other gins isn’t even the fact that it is Japan’s first ever craft gin – though admittedly, it staking claim on being the first mover in Japan surely doesn’t hurt for its marketing. Rather, Ki No Bi differentiates itself primarily through its unique separate distillation process that, to my knowledge, has yet been replicated by other distilleries.

Now, most gin distilleries tend to infuse their chosen botanicals together with a neutral grain spirit – either through direct maceration or vapor infusion - before distilling it at together all at once.

But not Kyoto Distillery.

Instead, Kyoto Distillery picks 11 different botanicals to be used in Ki No Bi gin, and divides them into six distinct flavour groupings they call “Elements”. These Elements are: Base, Herbal, Tea, Citrus, Spice, Fruity and Floral. Each of these flavour elements are macerated into their own respective batches of rice spirit, before being distilled individually into six distinct Element distillates. It is only after all six Element distillates are ready that a blender is then able to combine the six distillates using the famous Fushimi water to create the final Ki No Bi gin product.

As luck would have it, Ki No Bi Gin recently held a series of masterclasses at the Last Word bar in Singapore, where participants would get to taste the different distillates for themselves. It’s a pretty neat idea, in my opinion. Especially since these distillates are not individually bottled for sale. Masterclasses like this are a rare opportunity for consumers like us to find out how the components taste individually, before comparing them with the final product to find out if the Ki No Bi gin we all know of is truly greater than the sum of its parts!

Thus, in true investigative spirit, I headed to the Last Word on a Friday evening to dwelve deeper into this Japanese gin.

We meet the host of the masterclass, brand ambassador Alson, who promptly kicks off the session with an introduction of each flavour Element used in Ki No Bi Gin. Alson explains that each botanical in the Ki No Bi blend is harvested fresh, and quickly macerated in rice spirit before being distilled. Given the seasonal nature of the 11 botanicals, capturing each ingredient at their freshest implies that different flavour Elements can often be distilled at varying times across the year - depending on the optimal period of harvest for each. Understanding this gives further meaning to Ki No Bi’s name, which translates to “Beauty of The Seasons”, as the team at Kyoto Distillery works all year-round to match nature’s own tempo. 

One benefit of Ki No Bi’s separate distillation technique is that it gives the team at Kyoto Distillery the freedom to distil each flavour Element using the temperature and infusion method that is optimal for each ingredient. Thus, yielding the best flavour payoffs. In doing so, they avoid one key challenge that many other gin producers tend to struggle with during distillation: that certain botanicals tends to be more delicate than others, and more likely to wilt or break down prematurely versus other botanicals during combined distillation.

So close yet so out of reach! These individual distillates are, unfortunately, not available for sale.

The Fun Part: Tasting the Distillates

After Alson’s quick introduction, we promptly dive into sampling each of the distillates! My tasting notes, as detailed in sequence of tasting reccomended by Alson, are as follows:

Now, bringing it all together!

Once we’ve tasted all the distillates on their own, the session concludes with a freshly made Ki No Bi Gin & Tonic, served up by the bartenders at The Last Word. This is a chance to taste the final product as the distiller intended – with this spirit tying together all the six prior distillates we’ve sampled prior to this.

Interestingly, Ki No Bi gin uses special Fushimi water from a neighbouring sake brewery to meld the distillates together. Fushimi water is famed for its soft, sweet and floral flavour profile, helping to add an extra dimension of aroma to Ki No Bi gin.

The exact proportions of the different distillates used in the final blend is not publicly disclosed. However, having tasted the six distillates, I would warrant a guess that the Citrus, Herbal, and Spice Elements were probably used in heavier proportion against the other distillates, as the yuzu, ginger and sansho pepper flavours truly take centre stage here. The final Ki No Bi gin blend is definitely less juniper heavy than your average London Dry. Plus, there is a certain creaminess to the texture of this gin – which I suspect is imparted by the heavy-bodied Herbal distillate. Overall, the combined flavours work really well together, and balancing each other out to create something that tastes uniquely citrus and peppery, while distinctively Japanese in flavour.

Great on it’s own, great in a G&T. You can bet I left that masterclass feeling pretty satisfied.

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For more detailed information on Kyoto Distillery's unique production process and the story behind Ki No Bi gin, read our distillery deep dive on Ki No Bi here.

@lotusroot518