Two Nozawa Onsen gins win Double Gold at SFWSC

Japanese craft gin has once again made its presence felt on the international stage. Four gins from Nozawa Onsen Distillery, a small distillery in a hot-spring village in the mountains of Nagano Prefecture, were recognised at the San Francisco World Spirits Competition 2026 (SFWSC 2026), held in the United States in May 2026. Two of them received the top rating, Double Gold.

Four gins awarded, two with Double Gold

The two Double Gold winners are the distillery’s flagship products, NOZAWA GIN and IWAI GIN. For NOZAWA GIN, it is the second Double Gold, following the first in 2024. In addition, SHISO GIN, named after the shiso herb familiar from Japanese cuisine, and BARREL-AGED GIN SMALL BATCH 003, a limited cask-aged release, each won a Gold Medal. SFWSC is a spirits competition that began in 2000 and draws around 6,000 products from more than 70 countries. Judging is done by blind tasting, with the brands concealed, and Double Gold is awarded only to products that every judge rates as Gold.

A hot-spring village distillery born from a cannery

Nozawa Onsen is a village in northern Nagano Prefecture, close to the Japan Alps, known for its skiing and hot springs. The distillery opened in December 2022 in a converted old cannery that once supported the village’s food production. It continues to make gin using spring water nourished by snowmelt and local botanicals (the plants used to flavour gin), and has so far won more than 20 awards at international competitions. At SFWSC 2023, all four of the gins it entered won Gold Medals, and this latest result once again demonstrates its consistency.

Next up: single malt whisky

Besides gin, the distillery is also expanding its production of single malt whisky. The spirit now maturing in the village’s cool climate is scheduled for release in 2026. Attention is turning to how the flavour design and distilling skills honed on gin will be expressed in whisky.

If you are looking for these gins in Europe, start with specialist shops and bars that carry Japanese spirits, using the distillery or brand names as a guide. Try them first neat or with a little ice to appreciate the aroma, then with tonic, which makes the character of the botanicals easier to pick out. Comparing them with a London Dry gin is another enjoyable way to explore them. The whisky release, too, is worth following as part of the activity at Japan’s new distilleries.