Matsui The Hakuto Gin

The Hare of Inaba is one of Japan's oldest myths — a white rabbit who tricked a line of sharks into forming a bridge across the sea to Tottori's shore, was skinned for his boast, and was healed by the kind god Ōkuninushi. Hakuto means "white rabbit," and the Kurayoshi Distillery in Tottori Prefecture named its flagship gin for the local legend. The distillery belongs to Matsui Shuzo, the oldest registered company in the prefecture with sake-brewing roots in the Edo period, producing spirits in Kurayoshi since 1910. Where London Dry is built on a juniper backbone, The Hakuto is built around nashi — the crisp, juicy Japanese pear that's Tottori's most famous crop — surrounded by fourteen botanicals in all: juniper, coriander, orange peel, yuzu peel, sansho pepper, gyokuro green tea, cherry blossom, black pepper, and five kept secret. Everything macerates in neutral spirit, distills in an alembic pot still, and is proofed with soft groundwater from the snowmelt of Mount Daisen, bottled at a punchy 47% ABV. Skurnik found wet pine bough, cherry blossom, and candied lemon peel on the nose, leading to a structured mid-palate of pink and sansho peppercorn softened by underripe pear, cedar, and well-integrated juniper. Expect fresh citrus and pear up front, green apple, a waft of vegetal green tea, and a prickly, tingling sansho finish. The Daily Pour scored it 94 and called the coherence of ten botanicals at 47% genuinely impressive. Bracing in a Dry Martini, brilliant in a G&T with a slice of pear.

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