Diageo unveils English-Japanese gin Jinzu

Diageo has launched an English gin with a Japanese twist to the UK, following its Show Your Spirit competition in 2013.

Created by bartender Dee Davies, Jinzu is a mix of classic gin and Japanese botanicals with the addition of sake.

Show Your Spirit invited bartenders to enter their ‘dream liquid’ that they would like to see made into reality.

A share of the proceeds of Jinzu’s sales will go to a bartenders’ fund, which is to be managed by a small committee of bartenders.

After hundreds of entries to Show Your Spirit, a shortlist was announced allowing the drinks industry to vote for their favourite finalists.  The final four attended an bootcamp, working with Diageo’s innovation and marketing teams to present their concept to an expert panel.

Dee Davies, a 24-year-old bartender from Bristol, was chosen by the panel as the champion of the Show Your Spirit, for the new Diageo Reserve product.

Botanicals include juniper berries, coriander, angelica, yuzu citrus fruit and Japanese cherry blossom, which are blended with distilled Junmai sake, which is said to add a smooth finish.

Nick Temperley, head of Diageo Reserve GB said: “We are very pleased to see Jinzu launching to market.  The intention of the Show Your Spirit competition was to create a product for bartenders, by a bartender.  

“We hugely value their unrivalled expertise and significance within our industry and feel that who better to inform our brands than those that work with them the most.  We believe that Jinzu will be a strong addition to our gin portfolio, sitting alongside Tanqueray No Ten as a super-premium offering.”

Named after the Japanese Jinzu River, which is lined with cherry trees, Jinzu is presented in a bottle with a cherry blossom branch imprint.