Pernod Ricard’s Japanese gin distillery is fully operational
Pernod Ricard-owned Japanese gin brand Ki No Bi has announced its £21.8 million distillery, located near Kyoto, is now operational.
The French multinational announced it had started construction on the site in June 2024, aiming to increase production capacity by five times.
Now, the Japanese gin brand will host the grand opening of its new distillery on 7 October 2025.
The Ki No Bi distillery, located in Kyoto Prefecture’s city of Kameoka, is powered without the use of fossil fuels. Its boiler runs on electricity from renewable energy sources including wind, water, solar and geothermal power.
Murielle Arnaud Dessenis, global VP marketing gins at Pernod Ricard, called the opening a “historic milestory for our luxury Japanese gin gem”. She said the site shows Pernod Ricard’s “commitment to both sustainability and its ambition to grow”.
The Kyoto Distillery launched Ki No Bi in 2016. Pernod Ricard has been involved with the brand since 2020 when it made a significant investment in the gin. Its new distillery has been built to expand the brand’s global distribution.
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Dessenis said: “It’s a journey that began in 2016 and continues to evolve as we aim to capitalise on the opportunity to grow Ki No Bi’s global market share as an ultra-premium gin of choice.”
Japanese gin sales quadrupled between 2019 and 2024, rising from 1.2 million litres to 5.5 million litres over the five-year period, according to the Japan Spirits and Liqueurs Makers Association.
Pernod Ricard is investing in the category, which it hopes will continue to grow.
The new distillery houses multiple stills, the products of which are blended to produce Ki No Bi’s gins. Hiroyuki Nagai, operations director at The Kyoto Distillery, explained: “We could have installed one large still at the new facility, but we chose not to because we believe in maintaining our meticulous distillation process. We don’t simply combine all the ingredients into one still and press a button. Our botanicals are divided into six different flavour groups and distilled separately then blended, producing a distinctive, pure and perfectly balanced gin, with a Japanese accent.”
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