Distillery picks up prizes at gin awards
The distillers behind Kintyre Gin picked up two prizes at the third annual Scotttish Gin Awards held in Glasgow last week.
The Gintyre Festival of Scottish gin was highly commended and only beaten to the title of Scottish gin event of the year by The Big Big Gin Festival at Edinburgh’s Corn Exchange. As well as Beinn an Tuirc Distillers, Explore Campbeltown and South Kintyre Development Trust were also credited in the award.
The Campbeltown distillers were also highly commended in the best marketing campaign, just beaten by Botanical Bouquets, Edinburgh Gin.
The distillery had been nominated in six categories but afterwards director Niall Macalister Hall was not too disappointed. He said: ‘We were delighted to walk away with two commendation awards at the Scottish Gin Awards. Although we missed out on the big prizes, it was no mean feat to be acknowledged as a runner-up for best marketing campaign and best gin festival for Gintyre. We lost out to the big guys in both categories but are really happy that our efforts here are being acknowledged as we are a small business in a remote part of the country and keep Kintyre at the heart of everything we do.
‘We didn’t even mind losing to Lussa Gin in the innovation category – this was a fantastic result for them and they are great pals of ours. It really is a friendly industry and we had great fun catching up with friends from Nc’Nean, Avva Gin, Pixel Gin and Kilty Gin and many, many more.
‘It was such a fun night. There was a terrific atmosphere
in the room and lots of cheers for everyone. It may take a few days to recover and we might even be avoiding gin for a few days!’
The Scottish Gin Awards announced the winners following a rigorous judging
process involving 30 leading experts from across the UK, the assessment of 104 written entries and the blind tasting of 173 gins, all distilled in Scotland.
The ultimate award, Scottish Gin Distillery of the Year, was presented to Caithnessbased Dunnet Bay Distillers after phenomenal growth in demand for their Rock Rose Gins worldwide.
Chair of the judging panel, Alex Bruce, managing director of Adelphi Distillery, commented: ‘Once again, and with rising numbers of nearly 600 people, we have managed to gather as one industry, to celebrate our world-leading Scottish gin. Congratulations to all the Scottish distilleries and supporting businesses which have been successful. Winning a Scottish Gin Awards medal is a significant achievement and provides a huge opportunity to promote Scottish gin both at home and abroad.
‘I hope that tonight’s winners will take the opportunity to promote their successes in what was the largest and toughest competition to date.’