Over 600 guests gathered to celebrate the second annual Scottish Gin Awards in Glasgow recently to see the ultimate award, Scottish Gin Distillery of the Year, presented to Isle of Harris Distillers.
St Andrews-based Eden Mill won the most awards of the night collecting five, including the ultimate taste award in the competition, the Gin of the Year. Eden Mill’s Original Gin triumphed in the highly competitive London Dry gin category fending off 30 other gins before going on to win the judges’ prize for best gin in the overall competition.
Eden Mill also won business awards for Excellence in Marketing and Export and a bronze medal for their Oak Gin in the Cask/Aged Gin of the Year.
Other big winners were Edinburgh Gin who took the title for Growth Business and Innovation of the Year for Edinburgh Gin 1670, a collaboration with the Royal Botanic Gardens in Edinburgh. They won silver and bronze taste medals for their Cannonball Navy Strength gin and their Pomegranate and Rose liqueur.
Alloa-based Boe Gin won three medals, gold, silver and bronze, for their Boe Scottish Bramble Liqueur, Boe Scottish and their Peach & Hibiscus liqueur respectively.
McQueen Gin from Callander also enjoyed success for their unique flavoured gins, winning gold for their Mocha Gin in the speciality category and bronze for their Spiced Chocolate Orange gin.
Chair of the judging panel, Alex Bruce, Managing Director of Adelphi Distillery commented; “Congratulations to all the Scottish distilleries and supporting companies who have won at the Scottish Gin Awards. The Scottish gin sector can be very proud. These medals will help retain our precious reputation as a global centre in the production of high-quality spirits.
“With a phenomenal 80 Scottish gins in the finals and 18 taste medal winners presented, the results will provide winning distilleries with a real boost in advance of the busy Christmas season. For the discerning gin drinker, these awards provide welcome guidance when choosing from the large range of Scottish gin now on the market.”
Awards were also presented to recognise the growing number of gin bars and destinations across the country, with The Craftsman Company in Aberdeen winning Best Gin Bar of the Year and Crafty Distillery in Newton Stewart, Dumfries & Galloway taking the title of Best Gin Destination of the Year for their distillery and visitor experiences.
In the taste sessions, 116 Scottish gins were scored by 22 judges in a blind tasting adjudicated by the international sensory management consultancy, Cara Technology. 80 gins progressed to the finals with the top three performers awarded Gold, Silver and Bronze medals in each of six categories. There was a 53% increase in the number of gins entered in the competition this year compared to last year.
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