Oka Gin: Six Distillations, a 150-Year-Old Shochu House, and Two Junipers

OKA is a brand rather than a distillery. It was founded by Yuno Hayashi and named after her grandfather.

Where the gin is actually made is the interesting part.

Tsutsumi

Tsutsumi Distillery sits in the Hitoyoshi Basin in Kumamoto, about five kilometers from the Kuma River, and has been making shochu there for close to 150 years.

It's one of only 28 distilleries certified as a Kuma Shochu producer. That designation works the same way as Scotch, Cognac or tequila, a protected origin that legally ties a product to a place and a method. Kuma shochu is rice shochu from that specific basin.

So this gin comes out of a house with a protected regional specialty, using its own material.

How It's Made

A 100% rice base, distilled six times in a copper-lined stainless steel pot still. The botanicals go in during the final distillation rather than being macerated in advance.

Six passes is a lot. That's what makes the base clean enough to carry a big botanical load without turning muddy, while the rice still leaves a soft sweetness behind.

The Botanicals

Two junipers, Macedonian and Himalayan, which is unusual. Most gins use one source and treat juniper as a fixed constant. Blending two treats it as a variable, the way a distiller would treat any other botanical.

Then seasonal citrus: yuzu, sudachi, Satsuma mandarin. Plus young ginger.

What It Tastes Like

Aroma: Yuzu, juniper, sansho peppercorn, orange oil

Taste: Spicy and vibrant — piney juniper, earthy ginger root, lime, mandarin, and a soft rice sweetness underneath

Finish: Clean and slightly sweet, with floral and citrus lingering

Bottled at 43%. It's the most assertively junipery gin on our shelf, which makes it the one for people who actually want their gin to taste like gin.

How to Drink It

A gin and tonic, and a proper one. This has enough backbone for a full-strength tonic and plenty of ice.

It's also the gin here we'd reach for in a Negroni or a martini, because the juniper holds its shape.

Pair It With

Anything fried or grilled. Karaage, tebasaki, yakitori, takoyaki.

Try It at Juraku

Oka Gin is on the gin list at Izakaya Juraku, Lower East Side, and we pour the Oka vodkas too.