Being asked to judge gins for competitions is an honour, and not something I take lightly. I began my judging career with the Australian Distilled Spirits Awards back in 2016 and it’s staggering how much it, and our Australian gin industry has grown since then!
The 2021 competition had a record number of gins entered – 388 up from 328 in 2020.
Of those 388 gins, 34 were awarded a Gold Medal, 102 received a Silver and 142 achieved a Bronze medal.
There were some stand-out achievements this year.
Never Never Distilling Co. triumphed on the night, taking out THREE trophies – Champion Navy Strength Gin, Champion London Dry Gin , plus for the second year running Tim Boast won Champion Australian Distiller. I’m pretty sure this man must have every gong going by now!
Naught Gin, took home the Champion Contemporary Gin trophy AND a new award – Champion Victorian Gin! This is a wonderful result for Distiller Chris Cameron and the team, who have courageously weathered the COVID storm to open a magnificent distillery and launch three fantastic gins!
Imbue Distillery were awarded the Champion ‘Other Gin’ for their Suburban Barrel-Aged gin:
First time entrant and first time trophy winner, Ginny Pig Distillery claimed Champion Australian Micro Batch Spirit!
There is sometimes scepticism around awards and their worth, but standing in the room watching the faces of the winners, whose hard work was being recognised reminds me why they are of value. Congratulations to all those who received trophies and medals. It’s so exciting to see how our industry is growing!
Because the results are so extensive, I have only listed Gold Medal winners in each category. Please note, no Gold medals were awarded in the Old Tom and ‘Other Unlisted’ categories. However, if you want to look at the full results, you can do so here.
Gold medals are given to gins scoring 90-100 points, Silver – 82-89.9 points and Bronze for 74-81.9 points.
LONDON DRY
GOLD
Ambleside Distillers Big Dry Gin
Ambleside Distillers Small Acre Gin
Archie Rose Distilling Bone Dry Gin
Australian Distilling GinGin Gin
Bondi Liquor Co. Original Dry Gin
Ginny Pig Distillery Botanic gin
Imperial Measures Distilling Ounce Bold Gin
Kalki Moon Australian Premium Gin
Never Never Distilling Co. Triple Juniper Export Strength Gin
Patient Wolf Summer Thyme Gin
Taylor & Smith Distilling Co. Dry Gin
NEW WORLD/CONTEMPORARY
GOLD
Barossa Distilling Company, Generations Gin (SA)
Big River Distilling Co, Cinn Gin (ACT)
Boatrocker Brewers & Distillers, Original Gin (VIC)
Brogan’s Way Distillery, Evening Light Gin (VIC)
Four Pillars Rarer Dry Gin (VIC)
Hellfire Bluff Distillery, Summer Gin TAS
Forty Spotted Gin – Tassie Bush Honey (TAS)
Naught Australian Dry Gin (VIC)
Never Never Distilling Co, Southern Strength Gin SA
Saint Felix Distillery, Wild Forest Gin (VIC)
Seven Seasons, SA Green Ant Gin (SA)
South Coast Distillery, Sublime gin (NSW)
Southern Wild Distillery, Dasher + Fisher Meadow Gin (TAS)
Southern Wild Distillery, Dasher + Fisher Ocean Gin (TAS)
NAVY STRENGTH
GOLD
Kalki Moon Distilling Navy Gin (QLD)
Never Never Distilling Co. Juniper Freak (SA)
North of Eden Gin The Admiral (NSW)
Prohibition Liquor Co. Navy Strength Gin (SA)
BARREL-AGED
Imbue Distillery Suburban Barrel-Aged gin (VIC)
Kalki Moon Distillery Solstice Gin (QLD)
Original Spirit Co. Original Single Barrel Reserve
FRUIT GIN
The Canberra Distillery Blood Orange and Gin (ACT)
WINE GIN
Buller Wines Heathcote Shiraz Gin (VIC)
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