The contest where you’ve got to be gin it to win it!
FOR some it will be served shaken not stirred, while others prefer a green olive to a black one.
But whichever way you drink it, the chances are that the world’s best martini will this year be made using Scottish gin.
Three of the five gins shortlisted for the finals of an annual competition to create the perfect cocktail come from north of the Border – which will come as no surprise to aficionados of the country’s craze for craft gins.
A surge in demand for small-batch, premium gins is proving to be a multi-million-pound shot in the arm for the economy, with a fledgling band of Scots producers leading the charge.
Three leading names – Daffy’s, Caorunn and Darnley’s View – beat established brands such as Gordon’s, Beefeater and Tanqueray to compete for the title of 2017 Benchmark Gin at the World’s Best Martini contest tomorrow night, at the Three Six Six bar in Battersea, London.
‘Interest in awards has been immense’
A panel of judges will sample martinis made using all of the shortlisted gins, before selecting one as the key ingredient.
The competition is the brainchild of two Scottish businessmen, finance contractor Gary Sharp and entrepreneur James Thomas, who came up with the idea after sampling martinis in hotel bars on business trips.
Mr Sharp said a listening bartender was the secret to a great martini.
He added: ‘A good bartender will ask, if they haven’t already been told, what gin the customer wants, how dry they like it and which garnish should be applied.
‘Any bartender that makes it their own way is doing the customer no favours. A seasoned martini drinker will know exactly how they like it.’
Mr Thomas said: ‘The interest in the awards has been immense. The homework and research on this project was tough but, hey, someone had to do it!’
It is hoped the contest will cash in on the ‘ginaissance’ which began in the mid-1990s. About 70 per cent of the UK’s gin is now produced in Scotland and international exports are booming – up 37 per cent in the past five years with sales to 139 countries. More than two-thirds of the gin distilled in the UK now goes overseas, with the spirit bringing £1.76billion to the UK economy.
The number of British gins has almost tripled since 2010 from 31 to around 80 and a Scottish tourist trail of the best gin distilleries and bars has been launched.
Caorunn is made by one of Scotland’s oldest whisky distilleries, the Balmenach in Strathspey, while Darnley’s View is from the Fife-based Wemyss family and Daffy’s is based in Edinburgh.
Chris Molyneaux, managing director and distiller at Daffy’s, said: ‘Creating a gin with great complexity and finesse that makes an incredible martini has always been a top goal for us, so to be recognised for this is very exciting.’
The other finalists are Northumberland’s Hepple Gin and Brooklyn Gin of New York.