Ki No Tou Kyoto Old Tom Gin

Considered as the first "Old Tom" gin of Japan this new Ki No Bi was created by The Kyoto Distillery for the Tokyo International Bar Show. The "Old Tom" style gins date back to the 18th century with the addition of sugar in the gin recipe of the time to soften it. This technique became less popular thanks to the improvement of distillation techniques in the 19th century, allowing the production of "less aggressive" spirits.

Developed from the recipe of the classic KI NO BI Kyoto Dry Gin, this version was softened after distillation by the addition of kokutou (literally brown sugar in Japanese) from the island of Yonaguni in the Okinawa archipelago. Dating back to the 17th century, kokutou is traditionally made with a higher mineral content than other sugars, which brings both sweetness and complexity. A label has been specially created with two kanji characters, one meaning "island" and the other "sugar". It was produced with KIRA KARACHO, belonging to the KARACHO karakami workshop founded in Kyoto in 1624.