When “craft gin” had only just begun to enter the Japanese lexicon, a small distillery was born in the mountain town of Gujo, Gifu.
Drawn to its pristine waters, Shohei Tatsumi—a distiller who had journeyed the world in pursuit of fine liquors—chose this place to build his own.
The ridgelines that surround the town reminded him of the Jura Mountains, home of absinthe, and perhaps it was fate that brought him here.
His gin, distilled from a base spirit made from sake lees and infused with both Japanese and Western botanicals, soon became a sensation at home and abroad. Even before the term “Japanese craft gin” had gained currency, he came to be known as one of its pioneers.

It was in 2019 that MAWSIM knocked on the doors of the now-legendary Tatsumi Distillery.
From the banks of the Nagara River, MAWSIM had made its way to the tropical Mekong. To visit its very source—Gujo—was a natural step in paying homage to a great forerunner.

Shohei Tatsumi
Founder and head of Alchemie Inc.

Believing that “great spirits come from great brews,” he brews wine in the summer and autumn, and shochu and sake in the winter and spring—learning both brewing and distillation through hands-on practice.
He has also deepened his understanding of alcohol by traveling in search of origins: to Southeast Asia for the roots of shochu, and to the Caucasus for the birthplace of wine.
To date, he has visited 29 countries and knocked on the doors of over 700 distilleries and breweries.
https://www.facebook.com/TatsumiDistillery

Back when MAWSIM's gin-making was still just a rough sketch.
When we tried expressing the concept as a kind of bathtub gin—just to see what it might become.
When we obtained our first distillate using a 2-liter still.
When our recipe finally came together at the distillery in Phnom Penh.
And when the final product took shape—at every stage, we had the benefit of Tatsumi's thoughts and impressions.

We had no background in liquor-making, and didn't know what counted as “the right way.”
But his answer was always the same.
“Yeah, that's delicious.”

Mr. Tatsumi has always been an explorer.
Perhaps there is no such thing as a “right answer” to begin with.

Even when we asked about tools or technical methods, his stance was always: “Well, this is how I do it.”
It felt less like a signpost and more like a suggestion of new paths.

Shohei Tatsumi Distills MAWSIM.

In 2024, a bond forged through scent finally brought him here.
Shohei Tatsumi, the distiller from Gujo, Gifu, visited the MAWSIM Distillery in Phnom Penh.

The markets swirled with humidity and spice, the tropical air thick with layers of scent.
We still remember the way his eyes sparkled—like a child's—as he took it all in.

Tatsumi's creative instincts were immediately stirred by the tropical terroir.
And so was born a special collaboration batch: Alchemiae × MAWSIM.

Through Tatsumi's unique sensibility, MAWSIM GIN | SPICES & HERBS was reimagined.
Several spices were increased on instinct, then joined by Khmer basil, moringa, coconut, and three types of pepper—white, black, and long.
It amplified the warmth of the spices and the sweetness of the herbs, yet retained the crisp edge so characteristic of MAWSIM.
It was a gin like no other—like a clear stream flowing into a monsoon squall, where warmth and chill melt into a wavering haze.

The release was announced only through MAWSIM's own social media.
Even so, all 300 limited-edition bottles sold out in just four days.
The quietly released aroma had, without a doubt, reached the noses it was meant for.

The very next month, it was Tatsumi Distillery's turn.
In the latest release of their “YES DOG!” series, Mondulkiri pepper and wild cardamom, delivered from Cambodia by MAWSIM, were added to the mix.
It felt like a true round-trip journey of scent.

This 970-bottle edition, too, vanished in no time.
Spices nurtured by tropical rains had journeyed upstream into the mountains of Gujo, gaining new life in Tatsumi's kabuto-gama still.

Distillation—Transferring the Scent of Land into Water

Tatsumi's path led him to Gifu; MAWSIM's began there, heading into the tropics.
Both distill the essence of their surroundings, speaking through scent of the land's breath and presence.
Though born of vastly different climates, an underlying philosophy runs deep in both: to stay close to nature and to the potential of the land.

The Nagara River, flowing into the Pacific.
The Mekong, draining into the South China Sea.
Two distant rivers, meeting deep beneath the ocean, where a Schlieren quietly takes shape.