Roku Japanese Gin

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Roku is Japanese for six and appropriately this gin not only made with six Japanese botanicals but is presented in a hexagon-shaped bottle. In addition to the sextet of Japanese botanicals there are eight more traditional gin botanicals so 14 botanicals in total.

Japanese botanicals:
Sakura flower
Yuzu peel
Sencha tea
Sancho pepper
Sakura leaf
Gyokuro tea

Known traditional botanicals:
Juniper
Angelica
Coriander
Lemon
Orange
Cardamom
Cinnamon

Each of the 14 botanicals are distilled separately in one of four distinctly different stills. For example, cherry blossom is extracted using a vacuum distillation in stainless pot stills while yuzu is distilled in copper pot stills. The distillate from all 14 botanicals are then blended to produce Roku Gin.

Review and Tasting

Sampled on 20/08/2020

Appearance:

Crystal clear.

Aroma:

Floral with cherry blossom and parma violet enveloping delicately piney juniper and green tea.

Taste:

Silky and slightly oily mouthfeel – in a most appealing way. Busts of flavour punch the palate with cherry blossom, green tea tannins, piney juniper and festive spice.

Aftertaste:

Huge and long finish with sweet floral notes juxtaposing piney juniper and bitter tannins.

Overall:

This is a big gin that bursts with complex and intriguing flavours but I can't help thinking they'd all sit more harmoniously if the botanicals were distilled together rather than separately.