Nakano BC Craft Gin Kozue (700 ml)

When Nakano BC released Kozue in 2017, it documented a category first: the world's first gin to incorporate koyamaki (Sciadopitys verticillata) — Japanese umbrella pine, one of Japan's five sacred trees — harvested from the Koyasan World Heritage forest on the Kii Peninsula. That single botanical decision defines everything that follows.

The Fujishiro Distillery sits in the mountainous interior of Kainan City, Wakayama Prefecture, where the warm, humid microclimate is moderated by the Kuroshio Current and the Kii mountain range. Wakayama's agricultural identity — producing over 60% of Japan's plums — informs Nakano BC's hyper-local sourcing philosophy: Onshu mandarin and lemon peel are grown locally, while sansho seeds add a distinctly Japanese pepper register.

Production follows a cold maceration of all botanicals — koyamaki needles, European juniper, citrus peels, sansho — in neutral grain spirit prior to redistillation, a method the producer states extracts full aromatic depth before the still runs. Bottled at 47% ABV with no wood aging and no chill-filtration details disclosed.

What no peer does: the koyamaki pushes the aromatic register firmly into forest-green, resinous, and vegetal territory — closer to a walk through a sacred mountain grove than the citrus-forward or floral profiles that dominate Japanese craft gin. NV expression; drink now or hold without concern for evolution.