SAGA -- A newly opened distillery in Saga City has produced a craft gin that uses locally sourced ingredients such as lemons and nori.
Fourteen kinds of ingredients from Saga Prefecture, including lemons from Kashima, herbs from Takeo and nori from the Ariake Sea, were mixed with rice shochu distilled liquor made from sake. Natural spring water, from the Nanayama area in Karatsu, is the last ingredient to be added after being distilled by the Kusunohana Distillery, which opened in April.
The distillery has produced two varieties of gin: the Standard, which is sweet and easy to drink; and the Lisbon, which is lemon flavored. Both have an alcohol content of 45%.
Shinji Wada, 59, who retired from a brewing company last year, obtained a license to make spirits and purchased a distiller from the Netherlands.
"I was able to bring out the depth of the taste by using a lot of local ingredients. In the future, I'd like to use seasonal ingredients such as plum," Wada said.
About 10 bars in Saga, including Bar Yamazaki, have decided to offer the product. It will also be sold at liquor stores. The suggested retail price of the Standard is 2,500 yen excluding tax per 375-milliliter bottle.
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