The Kyoto Distillery 'Ki No Bi Go' Kyoto Dry Gin, Japan

Limited & unique reimagining of a Gin trailblazer.

A surprising fact: the first Gin-exclusive distillery in Japan opened in 2016. The Kyoto Distillery built a state-of-the-art facility with two custom copper stills and started producing their stellar Dry Gin. It all started in 2014 when Noriko Kakuda Croll, David Croll, and Marcin Miller founded it. Noriko and David come from the Whisky-importing business, while Marcin worked as an editor and publisher of Whisky Magazine. They chose Kyoto for its proud history and natural resources: the waters of Fushimi (which has been fueling the production of premium Sake for centuries), the lovely citrus of yuzu, the wonderful sansho pepper, and the legendary Uji teas.

Ki No Bi "Go" 5th Anniversary Limited Edition Dry Gin is a limited reimagining of the flagship Dry Gin celebrating the fifth anniversary of Kinobi. It's made from a rice Spirit, infused with yuzu, ginger, and gyokuro tea. But here's a twist: they replaced hinoki cypress with Japanese red pine in the base element—extra lift, bottled at a higher ABV (50%), and insanely unique.