Korea's first ever craft gin is a father son affair.

Buja Gin, which translates to “father and son” (and also translating to “rich”), is aptly named after a duo: PY Cho and Tom Cho. The father, PY Cho, runs an organic herb farm of over 50 herbs in Yangpyeong, Gyeonggi-do. Originally meant for cosmetics, herbs were harvested, dried, then kept in storage.The son, Tom Cho, was an avid gin drinker who one day hit an epiphany on a trip home during the holidays:

“I came to Korea on holiday and stumbled upon my father's herb warehouse. I walked into the drying room, and the aroma was intoxicating. I thought, “Why not make gin with all these different herbs?”

The father and son duo. Image Source: sooldamhwa.com  

What started out as a pursuit of interest during COVID quickly snowballed into a full distillery operation - with PY that was growing much of the uniquely Korean botanicals found in the gin, and Tom handling the distillation and marketing of Buja. 

The Buja Gin Batch #001, which I got my hands on today, is made out of 15 botanicals, with each ingredient carefully selected to be as Korean as possible. For instance, instead of using the standard lemon or orange as the citrus component of the gin, Hallabong, an oblong citrus fruit from Jeju Island, is used instead to provide a mild citrus floral note to the base gin.  Mugwort, an ubiquitous herb used in soups and rice cakes, are also distilled in the gin. Swapping out juniper berries for local varieties, more pine needles are used to make up for the milder flavours of native juniper berries.

With this expression, botanicals are both cooked within the still and placed in vapour baskets, with the different heat exposures extracting different flavours and aromas. Distilled at roughly 70% abv, the gin is then cut with water to 44%, before aging in the bottle for roughly five months for the flavours to blend well together.

Tom suggests the flagship gin be paired with a tonic, mixed into a martini, or as he most prefers: drunk neat. 

| Read more: We interview Tom Cho himself and get an insider perspective on the behind-the-scenes process and his plans for Buja Gin.

Buja Gin, 44% ABV - Tasting Notes

Nose: Strong, obvious presence of pine from the juniper. However, it isn't heady or intoxicating, with a semblance of freshness and sweetness to cut the resinous aromas. There's a very gentle, floaty, young grass and citrus scent that reminds me of pomelo rind and pith. On the back, there's a soaked wolfberry aroma as well.

Palate: A strong sweet flavour yet midily bitter that reminds me of a juicy, ripe pomelo. Towards the middle, I get a powdery astringency that feels akin to mugwort infused desserts or a concentrated grass jelly.

Finish: The perfume of flowers really linger in the mouth. A deep, herbaceous candied ginseng flavour persists with the refreshing somewhat-juniper flavour as an accompaniment.

My Rating

‍  

@vernoncelli