Picture this… You’re an ambitious Korean American who has his heart set on creating Korea’s first single malt whisky. After shelling out big bucks to purchase the necessary distilling equipment and to pay the taxman (whom in Korea demands a higher cut on the production of whisky), your first batch of whisky has been successfully distilled and now sits soundly in barrels to be aged over the course of the next few years.

Yet while the whisky rests, you can’t. The overhead costs associated with running a distillery remains. And with your only product years away from being ready to be sold to the market, everyday cash flow concerns loom. What are you to do? 

Such was a conundrum faced by Brian Do when he founded the Three Societies Distillery in Korea. And it’s certainly not a unique predicament that whisky distilleries in their youth encounter – many of which either take out loans, or even dabble in the private cask game, in order to maintain the capital needed to keep their operations afloat as they await the maturation of their whisky.  

The team at Three Societies Distillery chose a different path, and instead decided to produce and sell gin as an alternative revenue stream in the meantime. Unlike whisky, gin doesn’t require maturation in casks, can be distilled using the same distilling equipment used for whisky, and thus, be easily bottled for sale from day one.

The result of this is the creation of Jung One Gin, Three Societies’ very own Korean-inspired gin made with eleven types of botanicals. In addition to juniper, the spirit is also infused with coriander seeds, cinnamon and orange peels, as well as quintessential Korean plants like perilla leaf, Korean sansho peppers, even pine needles hand-picked from the trees surrounding their distillery. Quite appropriately, the gin was named “Jung One” meaning “Garden” in Korean, symbolizing the local botanicals that went into making this gin.

We’ve previously discussed the Three Societies’ whisky making process at length, and also reviewed their single malt releases, both the Ki-One Tiger and Ki-One Unicorn expressions on this site. Given that it came first before any of the whiskies, a taste test of the Jung One Gin almost seems like the missing piece of the puzzle.

Let’s get to it! 

Three Societies Jung One Gin – Tasting Notes

Color: Clear spirit.

Aroma: The nose on this comes across crisp and sharp, with bright citrus notes of mandarin oranges at the fore. There’s a mildly herbaceous note of sage and floral notes of cassia that tickles your nose.

(Image Sources: Masterclass, Cosmos Fresh Grocer)

Palette: The spirit hits your tongue in a way that is full-bodied and refreshing! I get immediate citrusy notes of bright mandarin oranges and lemon, coupled with a slight herbality (maybe from the baby ginseng?) that evolves to resemble the popular Chinese Ya Bao preserved mandarin peel snack. There’s a warmth to the spirit, with light hints of cinnamon spice.

(Image Source: Entree Kibbles)

Finish: The finish is moderate, and fades with a lemon effervescence and slight minty notes. I’m reminded once again of another popular citrus candy, the Himalaya Lemon Salt Mint Candy.

Our Take 

Perhaps it’s the citrus forward nature of this gin (or perhaps I was just tipsy) but as I sipped on this gin, the song “Lemon Trees” by Fool’s garden was playing on repeat in my head!

There’s a lyric in the song that gains new meaning as one downs a G&T made with the Jung One gin:

"I wonder how, I wonder why
Yesterday you told me 'bout the
Blue, blue sky
And all that I can see
Is just a yellow lemon tree."

Put simply, the blue sky in the song is often interpreted to represent optimism for a brighter future, while the lemon tree represents a contrasting sense of pessimism and sourness. And is that not, dear reader, perfectly apt of the experience of creating a distillery from scratch? One could well be excited about the prospect of finally bottling their own batch of whisky in a more desirable future, yet have to also contend with the less enviable aspects of keeping a distillery afloat in the present.

Yet, as the saying goes, when life gives you lemons, make lemonade. Three Societies Distillery’s lemonade is undeniably Jung One Gin.

@lotusroot518