KI NO BI (‘The Beauty of the Seasons’) is inspired by tradition and is distilled, blended and bottled in Kyoto. Our gin is made in a recognizable dry style but with a distinct Japanese accent.
This dry spirit from a dedicated gin distillery in Kyoto is arguably the first Japanese gin to get the world’s attention, with lots of hype surrounding its launch back in 2016. The flagship Ki No Bi is made using the famous water from the sake brewing district of Fushimi and is built on a base of rice spirit. The 11 featured botanicals are divided into six categories – base, citrus, tea, herbal, spice and floral – with each distilled separately before blending. So while the zesty yuzu dominates, you’ll still get a sense of the other ingredients in this perfectly balanced bottle: there’s an underscore of gyokuro tea and spicy sansho pepper, followed by a warm ginger finish.
KI NO BI Kyoto Dry Gin is created with Japanese botanicals such as yellow yuzu from the north of Kyoto Prefecture, hinoki wood chips (Japanese cypress), bamboo, gyokuro tea from the Uji region and green sanshō (Japanese peppercorn) berries.
Since then, The Kyoto Distillery has been taking inspiration from the tradition and heritage of Japan when creating various expressions of dry gin, including the Old Tom-style gin Ki No Tou that’s sweetened with Okinawan black sugar.
