PEAKLIFE

Who would’ve thought that a gin bottle would probably cost you more than your apartment rent? The UK distillery creates what it claims to be the most extravagant gin to ever exist in the market, made by the process of capturing evaporation.

Expert distiller William Lowe of the Cambridge distillery, using his “refined techniques” captures the top 1% of the award winning Japanese gin, yielding just 15ml per distillation. Using air pressure that is less than half found at the summit of Everest and temperature’s colder that the South Pole, they are able to retain the finest one percent of the liquid which would have otherwise evaporated in the environment.

One bottle of Watenshi, which means to “angel’s share” in Japanese, requires 50 distillation processes to capture the gin, making it worth your bills. Launched exclusively in Selfridges’ London, this gin comes in a striking hand blown glass bottle that is made to attract your eyes on the first sight. Designed by London’s Loris&Livia, the bottle also features silver pieces by jeweller Antoine Sandoz.

This award winning booze is created using Japanese botanicals such as yuzu peels, shiso leaf, sansho pepper, sesame seeds and cucumber along with juniper. Guy Hodcroft, Selfridges wine and spirits enthusiast said “The watenshi takes it to the next level, both in terms of balance and complexity of the liquid and also of its bespoke packaging and presentation”.

Lowe recommends the gin to be sipped neat at room temperature, as you would expect to treat the finest whiskies and cognacs. In 2015 Lowe’s creation was named the best gin of the year at the reputable China wine and spirits award 2015, after which he was motivated to create something, as he quotes, “even more exclusive and unique” using the Japanese gin as a base.

The resulting gin is described by the Cambridge distillery as having “notes of sweet citrus and spice, supported by bitter juniper and an incredibly long, complex finish”. They said it has “an unparalleled intensity and complexity, an expression of refined elegance” the likes of which is usually seen in the finest single malts and other significantly aged cognacs.

Due to the meticulous distillation process, there would only be 36 bottles to be produced each year, of which only six would be released to any one country. So you might want to grab it quickly to add in your collection before it goes out!