Blood Monkey Irish Craft Gin 70cl

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It looks like it’s getting hard to find a classic London Dry gin, but the experimentation is so exciting and you travel from extra bold juniper notes to a variety of peculiar flavours,” said Piromallo. Gimlets, French 75s, and Aviations all do a great job of impressing guests at dinner parties, too. Shop GQ's edit of the best gins for 2023… See themuffliquorcompany.com for a choice of gift boxes, including A Taste of Home, which includes Tayto crisps, Barry's Tea and Muff Potato Gin. Finally, Matt Chambers, co-founder of the Whisky for Everyone blog and the North London Whisky Club, chaired the final team, which included Anne Jones, drinks experience and events at Waitrose, and Angelo Sparvoli, head bartender at St James Bar in London. Larsson-Bell said: “There was excellent quality, with a huge array of flavours and botanicals to express. Sweetness was to a minimal level, and these gins offered more mouthfeel than sweeter elements. A vastly diverse category with a great future ahead.”

Four Pillars Distillery collected two more Master awards, one for “full-bodied” Four Pillars Bloody Shiraz Gin, and a second for “unique, creative and balanced” Four Pillars x Yarra Yering Single Vineyard Underhill Bloody Shiraz. Settlers Spirits Yuzu Gin also received a Master award, enjoyed for its “bright, citrus notes, fresh yuzu” profile. Outcast Brands, the company behind Blood Monkey Irish Craft Gin and Two Shores Rum, has announced a partnership with bbb drinks for the distribution and brand activation of their premium spirits in the UK market.

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Phil Harding, bbb founder, added: “This partnership has been in the pipeline for a while, so I'm very happy that we have managed to align ourselves and come to a long-term agreement. Master distiller at Dingle Graham Coull says: "The unique botanicals found on the Dingle peninsula give a fabulously fresh, floral character that perfectly balances the traditional botanicals often seen in London dry gin and in particular juniper. For me, this combination provides a gin of unmatched quality. But to be honest, you really have to taste it for yourself."

David T Smith, spirits consultant, writer and co-founder of the Craft Distilling Expo, chaired another group. He was joined by: Peter Downes, senior spirits partnership executive, Craft Gin Club, and Vanessa Piromallo, gin expert, judge, and founder of That’s The Spirit. Dingle was one of the very first new distilleries in Ireland, founded by the late Oliver Hughes, Liam LaHart and Peter Mosley all of the Porterhouse Brewing Company. Elliot Hughes, son of the late Oliver, is now a director along with Mosley and LaHart. Rademon Estate Distillery won two Masters across Ultra-Premium and Contemporary while Lough Ree won one for its Cask-Aged Gin.

Lough Ree produces two gins, Slingshot and Aiteal. Slingshot is the first ever gin made using peat as a botanical. “The peat creates an incredibly rich and smooth mouthfeel, while adding a deliciously earthy finish to our otherwise bold and fresh Irish gin,” says Michael. “The citrus and mint give beautifully fresh top notes, the juniper and cardamom in particular add spice and boldness, while the peat finishes it off with an earthiness and rounded mouthfeel, balanced with a hint of freshness from the mint.” I was hoping for more,” Pamplin admitted. “Some of the entries were a little thin on flavour, and sloe gins offer such wonderful, full flavour.” The Showering Family has been perfecting their cider making skills for over 170 years, and to create a Triple Vintage blend we even pioneered a special cool fermentation process - a slow-moving maturation that uses both wild and house yeasts to turn the apples’ natural sugars into alcohol to create complex flavours.”

For the perfect serve, West Cork recommends you fill a large glass with fresh ice, pour 50ml of Garnish Island Gin, 150ml of Premium tonic and garnish with a slice of strawberry. John Wilson and Co London Dry Gin was awarded a Master medal after the judges enjoyed its “lovely balance, sweet, citrus and juniper notes”, while Hernö Swedish Capital Gin took home a Master award for being “really good with liquorice, angelica and spice” flavours. One part Weavers Dry Gin to three parts premium tonic. Garnish with a slice of orange and fresh rosemary over ice. LOUGH REE DISTILLERY Hernö Gin Distillery increased its medal haul in this flight with two more Masters, one for Hernö Navy Strength Gin, with notes of “spice, minerality and lovely spice”, and another for “resinous, lemon and pine” Hernö Juniper Cask Gin. Etsu Pacific Ocean Water also collected a Master medal in this heat for being “salty, interesting, and playful for bartenders”, while Dark Series Oyster Shell Gin gained a Master medal for its notes of “lemon verbena, fresh green meadow herbs, dill, and Szechuan peppercorn”. Native Ground, from Seppeltsfield Road Distillers, took a Master award for notes of “warm baking spices, good balanced and complexity”. Shortcross Citrus Drizzle Gin was praised for being “bright, sweet, with some zesty fresh lemon peel”.

Tobias Gorn, co-founder and senior partner of International Drinks Specialists, chaired a panel comprising Dr Winifred Bowman, wine and spirits judge, and drinks writer; and Masha Twemlow, associate specialist at International Drinks Specialists. Kennard was taken by the “breadth of different experimentation” – “in a good way,” he said. “Producers are experimenting but in a controlled way, integrating the alcohol to make it exciting.” The name Conncullin comes from the two great Mayo lakes, Lough Conn and Lough Cullin, from where the distillery water source originates. The small-batch gin is produced in Connacht Distillery in Ballina, Co Mayo, on the banks of the river Moy. Connacht also produce a number of whiskies, a vodka and a poitín. The distillery was founded by Irish & Irish-American spirits entrepreneurs including the former CEO of Remy Cointreau USA, Tom Jensen, and award-winning master distiller Robert Cassell. Monster Energy is continuing an ongoing partnership with seven-time Formula One World Champion Lewis Hamilton with the launch of a zero-sugar version. This was one of the largest sections in the blind tasting, and delivered a high number of top medals. Nine Master medals were awarded in the Flavoured Gin flight.

With the price-point categories done and dusted, the biggest flight of the competition was presented next: London Dry. The judges were thrilled to see so many terrific gins in this segment, awarding Master medals 14.On the launch into the Canadian market, Kidd said: “Canada has a rich history of appreciation for quality spirits, and we are excited to be a part of it. This is just the first step in our plans to expand our availability across North America and we can’t wait for Canadian gin lovers to try our unique and versatile gin.” A strong set of Gold medals were also enjoyed in this round, with 20 medals given to deserving bottlings. Among the Gold award-winners were: Bathtub Gin, complemented for its “great mouthfeel with some spiciness”; “prominently juniper” Glaswegin London Dry; “green and leafy” Sea Glass Gin; “earthy and complex” Ki No Tea Kyoto Dry Gin; and “oily, slightly saline” Barra Atlantic Gin. Conncullin is a big and bold gin, bursting with flavour: wild fruits, juniper and citrus peel with subtle spice. In 2018 I started to explore gin and realised that they all seemed to follow a similar path. The only differential was the provenance and the botanicals, but most had a similar taste profile. Coming into a growing market with a lot of brands already present, we wanted to be different – both with our brand and the flavours of our gin”.