FIRST JOURNEYS - A RACE AROUND THE WORLD 2020 - PIN 11 OF 23
SAKURAO GIN, Hiroshima, Japan
AROUND THE WORLD, ONE BOTTLE AT A TIME.
PHILEAS FOGG WOULD SURELY APPROVE
Day 6...stop 2
Any visit to Japan needs to include Hiroshima and, whilst I’m not going to go into any of its history, I am going to drink a local gin — Sakurao.
This gin has won several awards and, at 47% ABV, it isn’t too shy either! It uses nine botanicals grown around Hiroshima, which makes it rather unique, although, as with many other brands, they do import and use some base botanicals from around the world.
This is a gin that isn’t shouting to be anything other than what it is — classic. It’s citrus-forward, not too much juniper on the nose but it’s there, and it has a long, spicy finish.
They have a few gins in their range — one with cherry blossoms and oyster shells, another using some of the local or coastal herbs — but this is their original and there’s no frills about it.
They also make a range of liqueurs and have a whisky which, when I wrote this, should have been ready the following year.
The gin is distilled using a combination of steeping and vapour distillation and is packed with citrus, including green lemon, bitter orange, yuzu and sweet orange, along with Japanese cypress, green tea, red perilla and ginger.
It’s probably perfect for a G&T, Martini or even a Negroni, but I’ve chosen to try out one of the cocktails from their website.
SITO LA BRISE – The Sea Breeze from Sito Inland Sea
20ml Sakurao Gin
20ml Lemon Rocks — a citrus liqueur they also make, but I substituted Distillato di Limone
20ml grapefruit juice
½ teaspoon Blue Curaçao
Salt to garnish the glass
And with that, I’m off again! There’s still a lot of world to cover and not much time to do it in!
"Sea Breeze"
"Show me a bottle
and I'll tell you a story."