Etsu Gin Double Yuzu Limited Edition

Etsu, meaning "pleasure" in Japanese, is bottled at the Asahikawa Distillery's Akita operation on the Honshu coast, where the Ou Mountains supply the fresh water that finishes every batch. For this limited edition the makers lean hard into Japanese yuzu, doubling the citrus and macerating it for seven days alongside juniper, coriander, angelica, liquorice root and a whisper of matcha. The botanicals are lifted out before distillation, so what remains is pure concentrated oil rather than steeped bitterness.

The nose is all fresh yuzu and lemon, clean and almost effervescent. On the palate that citrus turns juicier and rounder, the matcha and liquorice adding a faint herbal sweetness that keeps it from feeling thin, before a long, zesty close. Pour it over plenty of ice with a light tonic and a curl of lemon peel.