Cambridge Distillery Japanese Gin

An English gin that tastes Japanese, made by a distillery known for taking the long way round. Cambridge Distillery work in very small batches and distil most botanicals separately under vacuum, at low temperature, so that delicate material reaches the bottle tasting like itself rather than like something that has been boiled.

That method is the reason this works at all. The four botanicals doing the talking — yuzu peel, shiso leaf, toasted white sesame and sansho pepper — are exactly the sort a conventional hot distillation flattens. Shiso in particular turns dull and vegetal the moment you cook it.

The nose is citrus with something greener behind it, and the sesame reads as a warm toasted note that is genuinely unusual in a gin. On the palate the yuzu comes first and stays bright without any harshness. Shiso brings its anise-and-mint ambiguity through the middle, the sesame adds a soft, almost oily texture, and the sansho closes with that characteristic tingle. Juniper is in there, but it has been asked to sit down. At 42% it finishes clean and dry.

Expensive for a gin, and it earns that — but only if you drink it somewhere it can actually be tasted. Don't bury this under a strong tonic.

How to Serve

Neat and chilled, in a small glass, is the honest answer. If you want it long, use soda rather than tonic, with a twist of grapefruit — quinine bullies the shiso. In a Martini, keep the vermouth to a whisper.

Where to Drink It

The Connaught Bar, where a gin this delicate gets stirred rather than shaken. Artesian at The Langham for a bartender who will ask what you want from it first. Bar Lotus for something later and looser.

Food Pairings

Sashimi with ponzu rather than soy — the yuzu in the glass meets the citrus in the dressing head-on. Spinach dressed with sesame is the small plate that makes the toasted note suddenly obvious.