New Distillery in Taiki, Hokkaido, Releases a Gin Made with Locally Sourced Peat

On the Pacific side of Hokkaido, the largest island in northern Japan, lies the town of Taiki, known for its space-related industry. In July 2026, the town’s distillery, Taiki Cosmic Glen Distillery, released a craft gin called Smoky Alien. The distillery was founded in September 2024 by Takafumi Horie, entrepreneur and founder of the rocket company Interstellar Technologies, and others. Its real goal is a whisky made only from ingredients grown in the town, but it has first put out a gin, which needs no maturation.

A gin smoked with local peat

Peat is what forms when wetland plants accumulate over a long time and change into something like charcoal. It is known as the source of the smoky aroma of Scottish whisky. Smoky Alien uses peat harvested in Taiki, and the distillery describes it as a “purely domestic smoky gin”. It is bottled at 47% ABV, a 700 ml bottle costs 3,850 yen, and about 400 bottles are reported to have sold in the month of its release. Mr Horie presents it as a distinctive peated gin with few equivalents, in which a robust, earthy smokiness is layered over the delicate aroma of the botanicals (the herbs, roots and barks used to flavour gin).

Whisky due in 2028, with “no reliance on foreign ingredients”

The whisky itself, the distillery’s main goal, will use dent corn (maize grown for feed) from the town as its main ingredient, local peat for aroma, and water from the Rekifune River, regarded as “Japan’s cleanest stream”, for mashing. Full-scale production began in the 2026 financial year: the town’s dent corn and malted Japanese barley are fermented over several days and distilled into fresh spirit (new make). The distillery says it uses its own method to add the peat aroma. According to the distillery’s director, Yutaro Yamazaki, production is going smoothly and the release is planned for 2028. In parallel, applications were also being taken for the second round of its cask owner scheme, in which buyers purchase whole casks, limited to 50 casks.

What European readers should note

Smoky Alien is sold through the distillery’s website, and no distribution in Europe has been reported. Even so, for European drinkers used to Scotch peat, it is intriguing to wonder how peat taken from Japanese soil will smell and taste. If you see this distillery’s name on a shelf of Japanese craft gin, pay attention to the balance between botanicals and smoke. And in 2028, a Hokkaido whisky made from corn and local peat is due to appear.