Nikka Coffey Gin (700 ml)

When Masataka Taketsuru installed two Coffey continuous stills — built by Blairs Ltd. of Glasgow and originally housed at Nikka's Nishinomiya plant — at Miyagikyo, the intention was grain whisky. The decision to redistill that same corn-dominant Coffey spirit with botanicals was a deliberate transgression: using a whisky production apparatus to make gin, and letting the still's character define the result. The Coffey still's continuous distillation process preserves an unusual degree of sweetness and creaminess in the base spirit, a quality that no traditional pot-still gin base can replicate. Miyagikyo sits in a forested valley west of Sendai, fed by snowmelt from the Zao Mountain Range — water of exceptionally low mineral hardness — which contributes a soft, clean canvas for botanical expression. The botanical bill incorporates Japanese ingredients including yuzu, kabosu, amanatsu, and apple, layered over a juniper backbone, with the corn-grain sweetness of the Coffey distillate threading through the entire structure. What makes this expression categorically unusual is the base: a grain spirit distilled in a 19th-century continuous still, giving the gin a textural weight and confectionery depth that sits entirely outside the London Dry paradigm. Bottled at 47% ABV, it carries enough proof to hold the citrus oils in suspension without chill-filtration stripping the mouthfeel.