Jinzu Gin | 41.3% vol | 70cl | British Gin with Flavour of Cherry Blosom & Yuzu Citrus Fruit | Flavoured Gin Finished with Japanese Sake | Enjoy with Tonic in a Gin Glass

Product Information

Distiller Desmond Payne was inspired by the Chelsea Physic Garden, just round the corner from the original Beefeater distillery, and has created a lovely herbaceous concoction with hints of lemon verbena and thyme. Gin and tonics on the whole are reasonably low in calories when pitted against other alcoholic drinks. Created by a young bartender named Dee Davies, this is an unusual fusion of East And West: a British gin inspired by the flavours of Japan. Jinzu has a distinctive bouquet with fruity and floral notes, complemented by the intoxicating scent of sake. This special mixture is conversation-starter required to break the ice at that dull party you?ve been dragged to by your significant other. A clear, dry gin, Jinzu feels soft in your mouth and is quite an experience. The combination of English juniper berries and Japanese cheery blossom is an inspiration; more gins should have this combination!

Fleshy citrus jumps to the fore on the nose, with the sake bringing an underlying sweetness. The cherry blossom carries a distinct floral note, but there’s a subtle juniper underpinning it all. The LIVE virtual tastings are carried out in the last week of the month. Please keep an eye on our socials for confirmed dates!Jinzu Gin is a Scottish made, Japan inspired gin with an English woman at its heart. Designed by bartender Dee Davies for Diageo’s Show Your Spirit competition in 2013 (which it went on to win), the gin is a fantastic example of East meets West, with traditional gin botanicals joining cherry blossom, yuzu and sake to form a distinctive gin with a real sense of place. As usual, I tried Jinzu neat, in a G&T, in a saketini and a negroni. Neat, it’s very smooth and easy to drink. Nothing overwhelming about the spirit at all. It makes decent G&T. Jinzu gin saketini garnished with umboshi With its white ceramic bottle and art nouveau-inspired label, this Scottish gin from Dunnet Bay Distillery certainly stands out from the crowd. What's inside the bottle is just as good. The bottle has a cork stopper with a wooden top (this also featuring the bird), taking the bottle to premium product territory - it’d make a great gift, especially for those interested in gin, Japan or both. The next milestone for the brand now is to launch worldwide. An Australian launch is planned for later this year and we could see the gin going down well in luxury Asian markets, as it fuses both cultures with relative ease.

Jinzu draws on almost 250 years of distilling expertise to craft a classically British gin with a delicately Japanese twist. Once her idea was selected for the final, Dee was invited to Diageo’s World Innovation Centre, where she worked with Nicola Rowntree to turn the product from concept to liquid. They did this by making a compound gin with a juniper distillate and sake distillate and adding the other flavours as essences. Once they established what worked, they transferred this – through a process of trial and error – to a distilled recipe. The resulting product was extremely popular with the judges, and Jinzu Gin was born. That’s the same amount as a slice of pizza, a Cadbury’s Heroes miniatures bar and three Lees Teacakes respectively. There is a mix of familiar and unfamiliar with Jinzu. On the one hand, juniper is still present (thank goodness) so we know it’s gin, but on the other, the unfamiliar (to me) earthiness of the Junmai sake gives a different finish. On the nose citrus from the yuzu together with juniper are evident. On the palate a good juniper and citrus flavour gives way to some floral notes from the cherry blossom. There is some warmth towards the end and it’s here that the sake comes through to create a smooth finish. How to drink The drink is produced via distillation in traditional copper pot stills and in a pioneering process is married with a touch of distilled sake for a smooth creamy finish.

Jinzu gin was created by British bartender, Dee Davies for Diageo’s Show Your Spirit competition in 2013. Named after a river in Japan, Jinzu is a British gin with a Japanese flavour. Cherry blossom and yuzu are used as botanical ingredients and then Junmai sake is blended with the finished gin. It’s a gin that does well to be progressive without being offensive; it’s very much still a juniper-focused gin with a strong coriander seed spice, but it’s something new that will appeal to both traditionalists as well as those who like their gin to be a little more adventurous. Jinzu is made with a blend of juniper, coriander, angelica, yuzu and Japanese cherry blossom botanicals as well as sake, which brings a luxurious, creamy mouth feel and a subtle, compelling sweetness to its flavour profile. Juniper, although subtle, underpins the whole profile of this gin with floral notes and hints of sweetness adding intrigue and balance.