Roku Gin Review

Roku Gin is a botanical gin from one of Japan’s most renowned whisky producers. Its subtle yet complex flavors of citrus, juniper, pepper, and spice lead to a tangy, vegetal finish.

Tasting Notes

Color: Clear

Nose: Floral and citrusy, with deeper sweet-savory spice notes beneath the initial flourish of blossoms and fruit

Palate: There’s a distinctive, serious punch of spicy-savory, tingly pepper, only hinted at on the nose. Together with the juniper and higher ABV, it creates just a little zippy spiciness in the middle of your tongue, but it’s all wrapped up in a delicately silken texture.

Finish: A little short, but interesting: bitter orange and yuzu, along with notes of the duo of green teas—tannic and drying, vegetal, and a little tangy.  

Our Review

If Suntory whiskies are all about precision—often, more subtle emulated versions of scotch whisky, honoring the technique and style but bringing Japan’s own cultural values to the table—the company’s gin is a bit of a surprise. It has elements of that same kind of subtlety (which, truly, is key with gin, or else you wind up potpourri, and nobody wants that), but Roku isn’t all flowers and gentle herbs. It’s kind of powerful. It won’t knock you over with a hammering of flavors, but its flavors dovetail into texture and structure.

Suntory chose to use two different kinds of green tea: a shade-grown version (gyokuro) and a sun-grown version (sencha), each adding tannin, vegetal notes, and a hint of smoke. It gives the spirit a kind of scaffolding to hang its other botanicals upon. And there are plenty: Six of the 14 botanicals in Roku are sourced from Japan, distilled separately, and represented by the six-sided bottle Roku comes in, along with their images embossed on the clear glass, which is wrapped in a label made of traditional rice paper.

It’s not a Gin & Tonic gin, and perhaps not even a Negroni gin, as the Campari and the tea influence may well clash instead of offering panache. But consider taking a page or two out of Audrey Saunders’ playbook and try it in a Gin-Gin Mule, playing spice on spice on citrus on flowers, or with a thoughtful swap of green tea for Earl Grey, her MarTEAni. And honestly, it’s entirely delicious solo, too.