The brand’s most renowned expression is Jinzu gin - a fresh juniper taste invigorated with zesty citrus and delicate hints of cherry blossom flavour, finished with a smooth sake.

Japan has been riding high in popularity (and influence) across the food and drinks industry for the past 18 months, with Matcha and Yuzu having already swept the globe,” Olivier Ward, Editor and Co-Founder of Gin Foundry told Good Housekeeping. “Cherry blossom, and other ingredients are now surfacing more often, especially in gin, as drinkers dig deeper into the country and cuisine’s rich heritage and diverse flavour pairings. Combine this with an unquenchable thirst for pink drinks in the UK and it’s easy to see what there's such a phenomenal interest around products with it in." Jinzu Gin is the incredible creation of British barkeeper Dee Davies. Jinzu was entered into Diageo's "Show Your Spirit" competition and, being the clear winner, was taken-on by the company. British gin is used as a base, giving the spirit a lovely fragrance. Sake and cherry blossom are added during distillation to create a gin with an unexpected personality. You really haven't had anything like this before.And we're not just buying the bottles. We're investing in gin parties, gin tours, gin advent calendars, gin menus and more, suggesting the drink once known as 'Mother's Ruin' has not only cultivated a cult following, but become our nation's favourite spirit. Once her idea was selected for the final, Dee was invited to Diageo’s World Innovation Centre, where she worked with Nicola Rowntree to turn the product from concept to liquid. They did this by making a compound gin with a juniper distillate and sake distillate and adding the other flavours as essences. Once they established what worked, they transferred this – through a process of trial and error – to a distilled recipe. The resulting product was extremely popular with the judges, and Jinzu Gin was born. As usual, I tried Jinzu neat, in a G&T, in a saketini and a negroni. Neat, it’s very smooth and easy to drink. Nothing overwhelming about the spirit at all. It makes decent G&T. Jinzu gin saketini garnished with umboshi Jinzu pushes the boundaries of gin with its marrying of different cultures and tastes. Flavour Profile: Jinzu was launched in 2014 and was the invention of Dee Davis, an English bartender who created it a year earlier as an entrant to Diageo’s Show Your Spirit competition – which he won. Recommended serves of this 41.3 % spirit are Indian tonic and green apple, but it is also enjoyable supped neat, with a very passing resemblance to those cherry menthol sweets for sore throats, but in a far, far more subtle and pleasing way.

On the nose, Jinzu possesses fruity and floral notes, working well with the seductive sake scent. Due to its unique nature, this gin is the perfect ice-breaker at any dull party. Jinzu has a soft, pleasant feeling in the mouth and is very easy to drink. Juniper from Britain and cherry blossom from Japan is a revelation; why has no one tried this before? The LIVE virtual tastings are carried out in the last week of the month. Please keep an eye on our socials for confirmed dates!

The bottle has a cork stopper with a wooden top (this also featuring the bird), taking the bottle to premium product territory - it’d make a great gift, especially for those interested in gin, Japan or both. The next milestone for the brand now is to launch worldwide. An Australian launch is planned for later this year and we could see the gin going down well in luxury Asian markets, as it fuses both cultures with relative ease.

Jinzu is made with a blend of juniper, coriander, angelica, yuzu and Japanese cherry blossom botanicals as well as sake, which brings a luxurious, creamy mouth feel and a subtle, compelling sweetness to its flavour profile. The gin boom, or ginaissance, is still going strong, with the British public buying more of the juniper-based tipple than ever before.

Juniper, coriander and angelica are macerated in the pot still before cherry blossom and Yuzu are added. Flavour What is not widely known is that creator, Dee Davies, passionately disliked gin until her friends persuaded her that gin was worth getting to know. What is Jinzu? Jinzu draws on almost 250 years of distilling expertise to craft a classically British gin with a delightful Japanese twist. Jinzu is the marriage of British gin with the delicate flavour of cherry blossom and yuzu citrus fruit, finished with a smooth Japanese sake. The drink is distilled in traditional copper pot stills, with a touch of distilled sake for a smooth, creamy finish.