Spanning pink gin, Scottish vodka and Taiwanese whisky, more than 40 award-winning brands from SB‘s blind-tasting competitions will be available to sample at The Wine & Spirits Show next month.

Glendalough Rose Gin is one of many gin brands available to sip during the show

Organised by The Spirits Business and the drinks business magazines, The Wine & Spirits Show will return to The Royal Horseguards Hotel in London on 3 and 4 April 2020.

Guests will be able to sample award-winning wines and spirits from The Global Spirits Masters and Global Wine Masters series of blind-tasting competitions.

Nearly 20 esteemed gin brands will be on offer in The Global Spirits Masters Zone, all of which stormed to success in our annual gin blind-tasting.

Vodka, Scotch, Cognac and Taiwanese whisky will also be showcased, with these products grabbing Gold and Master medals across the series of competitions.

Scotch whisky producer Angus Dundee Distillers, Edinburgh Gin and Australia’s Never Never Distilling Co will also bring their award-winning bottlings to the show.

A full schedule of spirits and wine masterclasses for the show will be announced soon.

For more information on the show, visit www.wineandspiritshow.com.

Click through the following pages to see a profile of some of the top-tasting expressions available for sampling in the Global Spirits Masters Zone.

Eight Lands

Scotland’s Glenrinnes Distillery released its Eight Lands gin and vodka in June last year. The name ‘Eight Lands’ was inspired by the eight counties that can be seen from the top of Ben Rinnes, weather permitting.

Eight Lands spirits are made using organic ingredients, including some botanicals that are sourced from the Glenrinnes estate. Farming on the estate has been organic since 2001.

The Master-winning Eight Lands Organic Speyside Gin was described as a “classic gin” with “perfect balance [and] botanicals all in alignment” during last year’s Gin Masters competition. It was also praised for its notes of “cut meadow and unsweetened tea”.

Eight Lands Organic Speyside Vodka walked away with a Gold medal during the ultra-premium flight in The Vodka Masters 2019.

The 42% ABV expression is said to have notes of marzipan and vanilla pods on the nose, leading to butterscotch and coconut on the palate.

Kavalan Distillery

Taiwanese distillery Kavalan helped make the 2019 World Whisky Masters the competition’s best year to date. The brand won 13 medals, five of which were top Master accolades (Kavalan also secured the World Whisky Taste Master title for its Solist Port Single Cask Strength Single Malt expression).

The distillery’s medal‐winning whiskies spanned the premium and ultra‐premium single malt legs in the Asia (excluding Japan and India) rounds of the competition.

At the Wine & Spirits Show, the producer will showcase its Gold-winning Kavalan Collectors Rum Cask and Kavalan Ex-Bourbon Cask Strength Soloist.

Explorer’s Gin

UK-based Downton Distillery’s Explorer’s Gin secured a Master during The Gin Masters’ 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.

Glendalough Rose Gin

Tapping into the pink spirits trend, Ireland’s Glendalough Distillery released its pink gin last year. The gin grabbed a Master medal in a flight of flavoured expressions during last year’s Gin Masters blind-tasting.

It is made from fresh ingredients sourced from the mountains that surround the distillery in County Wicklow, Ireland.

Glendalough claims to be the only distillery in the world that employs full-time foragers, enabling its team to distil using fresh wild plants every day.

Botanicals used in the gin include Irish mountain roses and damask roses, which are 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 post-distillation, giving the spirit its pink tinge.