KI NO BI SEI Kyoto Dry Gin

Profile: The KI NO BI SEI Kyoto Dry Gin at a glance

• KI NO BI SEI Kyoto Dry Gin: The samurai among gins - with style, pride and sansho pepper
• Japanese premium gin: Made by the Kyoto Distillery, Japan's first gin distillery
• Base: Creamy rice alcohol ensures a silky texture and delicate sweetness
• Powerful: With 54.5% vol. Significantly more powerful than the classic KI NO BI
• Botanicals: With yuzu, hinoki wood, sansho pepper, bamboo, ginger, and gyokuro tea

Portrait: What makes KI NO BI SEI Kyoto Dry Gin special

If the "beauty of the seasons" is squeezed into a bottle, it's probably called KI NO BI SEI. This gin doesn't come from London or the Black Forest, but—you won't believe it—from Kyoto, the ancient imperial city of Japan, where tea ceremonies are taken more seriously than tax returns.

It is produced at the Kyoto Distillery, which allows itself the luxury of independence – just like a Zen monk with a still. And instead of neutral industrial alcohol, they use creamy rice alcohol – the silk kimono of spirit bases, so to speak. This base not only lends KI NO BI SEI a subtle elegance, but also makes it appropriately Japanese: smooth, stylish, and absolutely polite.

But that's not all: The gin is flavored with such typically Japanese ingredients that you'd think you'd accidentally raided a botanical supermarket in Kyoto. Yellow yuzu, hinoki wood, sansho pepper, bamboo leaves, ginger root, and fine gyokuro tea - everything that sounds like a spa menu, but actually ends up in this gin.

SEI doesn't stand for "Be quiet," but simply means "powerful" - which applies not only to the higher alcohol content, but also to the appearance.

Conclusion: KI NO BI SEI is not a gin for casual drinking. It's a statement in liquid form - and a polite kick in the taste buds. Only with haiku and kimono.

Tasting Notes: This is how the KI NO BI SEI Kyoto Dry Gin tastes like

• Nose: The first impression is fine and elegant - like a stroll through a Japanese garden in spring - fresh citrus aromas of yellow yuzu immediately emerge, followed by a subtle hint of ginger and green tea - in the background, floral notes and a light wood aroma of hinoki cypress wood become noticeable - almost like a freshly sharpened pencil in a tea bowl - surprisingly complex, yet restrained and finely structured
• Palate: On the tongue, the SEI is more powerful than its elegant brother - no wonder at 54.5% vol. - yet it remains wonderfully balanced - the yuzu fruit brings freshness, while the sansho pepper contributes a slightly tingling, spicy heat - bamboo leaves and gyokuro tea lend a subtle bitterness and depth - the creamy rice alcohol carries the whole thing with a silky texture - like a smooth kimono on the tongue
• Finish: long, warm, and surprisingly smooth despite the higher alcohol content - the spiciness of the sansho remains charmingly tingling in the aftertaste, accompanied by a delicate sweetness and an elegant dryness - the tea and citrus notes linger - like a final gong in a Zen monastery