Ki No Bi Kyoto Dry Gin. The Kyoto Distillery, Fushimi, Kyoto, Japan — Japan's first dedicated gin distillery, distilling 11 botanicals across six distinct flavor categories with a rice spirit base and pure Fushimi groundwater, producing one of the world's most elegant and complex contemporary gins.
The Kyoto Distillery opened in 2016 in the Fushimi district of Kyoto — a neighborhood historically renowned for sake brewing, where the exceptionally pure local groundwater has been prized for centuries. Ki No Bi, meaning "the beauty of the seasons," was designed from the outset to express Japanese terroir through gin: a London Dry structure with a distinctly Japanese accent. Master Distiller Alex Davies, working with the Number One Drinks Company, built the production around a rice spirit base — unusual in gin — which contributes a clean, neutral canvas with subtle umami depth. The water used for dilution is drawn from Fushimi's famous sake-quality aquifer.
The 11 botanicals are divided into six categories — Base, Citrus, Tea, Herbal, Spice, and Fruity & Floral — and each category is distilled entirely separately before being blended with precision. This approach allows each botanical to express its fullest character without being dominated by others in the still. The Japanese botanicals are sourced fresh where possible: yellow yuzu from northern Kyoto Prefecture, gyokuro green tea from the famed Uji tea-growing region, green sanshō peppercorns (a relative of Sichuan pepper), hinoki Japanese cypress wood chips, bamboo leaves, red shiso, and ginger. The result is a gin that is, as Skurnik describes it, "floral, citrus-forward, and remarkably clean", capable of being savored neat, on the rocks, or in the simplest cocktails where its intricate Japanese botanical character can take center stage.
Tasting Notes
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Nose: A fresh, strong yuzu fragrance opens first — bright, citrusy, and distinctly Japanese — followed by delicate gyokuro green tea sweetness and a thread of sanshō pepper that lingers like morning mist.
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Palate: Yuzu leads the way with clean citrus depth. Fresh shiso leaves, grapefruit pith, and a subtle umami note from the gyokuro tea build through the mid-palate. A tingling sensation from sanshō pepper adds a distinctive spice layer.
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Finish: Warm and spicy from ginger, with lingering sanshō pepper and a clean, refreshing close. Long and satisfying.
Specs
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Distillery: The Kyoto Distillery, Fushimi, Kyoto, Japan
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Style: Japanese Contemporary Dry Gin
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Base Spirit: Rice
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Water: Fushimi groundwater (sake-quality aquifer)
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Botanicals: Juniper, orris root, hinoki (Japanese cypress), lemon, yuzu, sanshō peppercorns, kinome (Japanese pepper leaf), bamboo leaves, gyokuro green tea, ginger, shiso (red perilla)
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ABV: 45.7% (91.4 Proof)
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Size: 750ml
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Frequently Asked Questions
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What does Ki No Bi Gin taste like? Yuzu leads the nose with bright citrus and gyokuro green tea sweetness. The palate is citrus-forward with shiso, grapefruit pith, subtle umami, and sanshō pepper spice. The finish is warm and spicy from ginger with a long, clean close. One of the finest sipping gins available.
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What makes Ki No Bi different from other gins? Ki No Bi uses a rice spirit base rather than grain, and sources distinctly Japanese botanicals — yuzu, sanshō pepper, gyokuro green tea, hinoki cypress, bamboo, and shiso — most of which are sourced fresh from within Kyoto Prefecture. Each of the 11 botanicals is distilled separately in six flavor categories before precise blending.
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What botanicals are in Ki No Bi? 11 botanicals across six categories: juniper, orris root, and hinoki (Base); yuzu and lemon (Citrus); gyokuro green tea (Tea); bamboo leaves and shiso (Herbal); ginger and sanshō pepper (Spice); kinome — Japanese pepper leaf (Fruity & Floral).
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What cocktails is Ki No Bi best in? At its finest in a very dry Martini at a 7:1 ratio, where the Japanese botanicals replace the need for much vermouth. Also outstanding in a Gimlet with yuzu juice instead of lime, or simply over ice with a small amount of Fushimi water to open up the aromatics.
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Where is Ki No Bi Gin made? At The Kyoto Distillery in Fushimi, Kyoto — the first dedicated gin distillery in Japan, sharing its neighborhood with sake producers who have brewed there for centuries, drawing on the same exceptional groundwater.
