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Top 10
Top 10 award-winning gins
When it comes to the ever-growing gin category, producers are tapping into trends and creating innovative products to appeal to consumers. We highlight some of the top-quality expressions from our biggest blind-tasting yet.
SB presents award-winning bottles from this year’s Gin Masters competition
The Spirits Business held its annual Gin Masters last month, where an experienced panel of judges recognised the best bottlings in the business.
Looking across multiple categories, from Old Tom to flavoured gins and navy strength bottlings, a wide range of gins were awarded the top accolades of Master medals for their quality.
The individual scores of each entrant have not been revealed, however these are 10 of the highest rated medalists in the competition, in no particular order.
Our judges have given each gin listed here the seal of approval for offering excellent quality within their respective price categories.
Click through to the following pages to view the award-winning gins from our blind-tasting competition.
Ki No Bi Tou Kyoto Old Tom Gin
Price: £59.95 (US$75.36)
Grabbing a Master medal in the Old Tom round was Ki No Bi Tou from The Kyoto Distillery in Japan.
“This was a standout in the Old Tom flight,” enthused one judge. “Vanilla, molasses, caramel and a woodiness, but none of those take away from the fact this is a solid gin to begin with. Top work by the distiller.”
Ki No Tou is made with the Ki No Bi Kyoto Dry Gin, which is then sweetened after distillation with kokotou – ‘black sugar’ – from Yonaguni, the most westerly-inhabited island of Japan. The extra sweetness amplifies the botanical flavours as well as adding it’s own complexity, thanks to kokotuo’s mineral-rich flavour.
The label design features two kanji characters, one meaning ‘island’ and the other meaning ‘sugar’.
Glendalough Rose Gin
Price: US$34.99
One of three Master medallists in the flavoured round, Glendalough Rose Gin was praised for retaining some of the classic gin characteristics, while also being a flavoured iteration.
Glendalough Rose Gin is made using fresh ingredients sourced from the mountains that surround the distillery in County Wicklow, Ireland.
The gin’s ingredients include Irish mountain roses and damask roses, said to be the “most aromatic roses that can be found”. The petals are distilled into the spirit and also used to infuse the gin after distillation to create a pink hue.
Hernö Navy Strength
Price: £39.76 (US$48.72)
Hernö Navy Strength walked away with a Master accolade in the Navy Strength round. Judges enjoyed its “cardamom blast, verbena, angelica and slightly floral” flavours.
Produced by Swedish distiller Hernö, the brand’s navy strength variant is made from the same distilled gin as its London Dry-style Hernö Gin, but diluted to 57% abv instead of 40.5% abv.
Makar Oak Aged Gin
Price: £35 (US$44)
A Master was found in Makar Oak Aged Gin in the Cask Aged segment, which one judge said was “beautiful, light” and the first gin to really take on the characteristics of the barrel.
Produced by Scotland’s Glasgow Distillery Company, Makar Oak Aged Gin is a cask matured variant of Makar Original Gin.
Matured in virgin oak wood casks for more than 10 weeks, Makar Oak Aged Gin is recommended served neat over ice or in a Negroni.
Nordés Atlantic Galician Gin
Price: £35.95 (US$45.18)
In the super-premium round, Master-winning Nordés Gin by Atlantic Galician Spirits was praised for being “smooth, herbaceous and delicious”, with judges noting it would be ideal for a Martini.
Nordés is the fastest-growing premium gin brand in Spain, according to Nielsen. Earlier this year, the gin brand agreed a partnership with distribution agency Craftwork to grow its presence in the UK.
Hayman’s Sloe Gin
Price: £26 (US$32.68)
Hayman’s Sloe Gin was bestowed with a Master medal in the Sloe Gin round.
One judge found “great plummy damson” notes and said the gin was “not too sweet”.
The 26% abv gin, produced by London distillery Hayman’s, was made by steeping wild harvested English Sloe berries in Hayman’s English Gin for three to four months.
Edinburgh Gin Elderflower Gin Liqueur
Price: £18.50 (US£23.25)
In the gin liqueurs flight, a Master was found in Edinburgh Gin Elderflower Gin Liqueur. The judging panel relished the “authentic elderflower” flavour coming through.
Bottled at 20% abv, Edinburgh Gin’s Elderflower Liqueur is distilled using native ingredients, locally sourced from Edinburgh’s rural landscapes.
It is made with freshly-picked elderflowers, which are infused with the classic Edinburgh Gin. The flowers are left to macerate for a month for full flavour extraction.
Shortcross Gin
Price: £39.95 (US$50.21)
Produced by Northern Ireland’s Rademon Estate Distillery, Shortcross Gin stormed to success in the Ultra Premium heat. The Master-winning expression demonstrated “smoothness in abundance”.
Released in 2014, Shortcross Gin is made using a blend of botanicals that includes juniper, fresh apples, elderberries, wild clover, coriander, orange peel, lemon peel and cassia.
Founded in 2012 by husband and wife David and Fiona Boyd-Armstrong, Rademon Estate Distillery is situated outside Downpatrick, County Down, at the couple’s family estate.
Moonshot Gin (That Boutique-y Gin Company)
Price: £21.95 (US$27.60)
That Boutiquey Gin Company Moonshot Gin was one of three expressions from English producer Atom Brands to receive a Master during the competition. The gin was commended for its “lovely interplay between spice and juniper”.
Produced by independent bottler That Boutique-y Gin Company (TBGC), the expression is made exclusively with botanicals that have been sent into space, as well as moon rock from a lunar meteorite.
Moonshot Gin contains juniper, coriander, cubeb pepper, fresh lemon peel, camomile flowers, cardamom, dried bitter orange peel, cinnamon, liquorice root and angelica – all of which were sent into the stratosphere at an altitude of at least 24km, where they were “exposed to extremely low pressures”.
Explorer’s Gin
Price: £36 (US$45.25)
Downton Distillery’s Explorer’s Gin picked up one of two Masters in the Contemporary flight. The panel found this particular expression to be “versatile”, and recommended that it should be used in a Martini, gin and tonic, or even as a sipping gin.
Produced by Wiltshire-based Downton Distillery, Explorer’s Gin is a London Dry gin created using the one-shot method. The distillery macerated 15 botanicals, then vapour-infused fresh botanicals. Post-distillation, spring water from the New Forest and the surrounding Downs is added to the liquid.
The inspiration for the gin comes from the ‘Golden Age of Exploration’ during which European ships travelled around the world discovering both new continents and trading routes.
Botanicals used in the creation of Explorer’s gin include juniper, coriander seed, fresh citrus peel, lemon verbena, fennel seed, pink pepper, cedar and timur berries.