The personal touch: As a small family-run business - with over 17 years experience - we truly care about every customer and we're always here to help you straightaway. Henley Gin – Oriental Spiced was hailed for its notes of “sweet cinnamon and lovely leafy green herbs”, and subsequently given a Master medal, while fellow Master winner Porky46 received the top award for being “refreshing, with good mixing potential, and plump, juicy fruits”. Distillers continue to embrace unusual botanicals in their gins Milliken was very impressed by the standard of entries in the Navy Strength flight. “There were a couple of standouts there, especially the aged ones. Despite the navy strength, I found these very easy to drink. I did add water to them, not because I needed to, but to see how they worked – and they worked either way.” 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.”

Joining Nicola Carruthers, deputy editor of The Spirits Business, and chair of her panel, were: Christine Perrett, drinks photographer at A Twist of Citrus and co-founder of The Spirits Hub; and drinks consultant Stephen Kennard. Bernadette Pamplin, freelance drinks writer and founder of the Under the Ginfluence blog, chaired a panel consisting of: Sara Jane Eichler, founder of the Negroni Club UK; and Millie Milliken, freelance journalist. Ellström from Pernod Ricard to lead international large-scale investment and further commercial growth. Stig: I have run a few restaurants and bars in Oslo, and have always offered a wide selection of gin. The sales volumes have been low though, until last summer. We experienced a significant increase of sales in the category. This year gin has increased 8%, and the premium segment has increased as much as 30%. A 27-strong set of Silver medals concluded the flight, including: Chapel Down Pinot Noir Gin, Distilled Gin Naud, Sir Edmond Gin, and Junimperium Sloe Gin.Another aspect is that the brand is founded around me as a person. I travel the world to tell my story, and people enjoy meeting the man behind the brand; that is genuine and not created by marketeers. Stig: We are about to expand our production capacity from two to six stills. We favour the quality and expression of gin made in the small still (600 litres). So rather than installing one bigger still, we are now implementing an additional four of the 600 ls.

Athavia’s team agreed. She said: “There were some good London Dry examples, a couple that were not very London Dry style but unique and individual in their own right. There was some very good distillation here with clarity of flavours. All of them were very well made.” Double Gold Award Winning Botanical Gin from Norway – Bareksten Gin is a product that finds inspiration from the dramatic and scenic nature of the Norwegian West Coast. Master Distiller Stig Bareksten’s vision of drawing identity from the geographic location and taste was the main focus throughout the creation of Bareksten. Bareksten gin tastes even better with good food. Read more about Bergen - City of Gastronomy. Come to Bergen for the gin festival! 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.” Forty Spotted Gin also won two Master medals. Forty Spotted Wild Rose received a Master for its “excellent rose aromas” and “very juniper- and rose-forward palate”, and Forty Spotted Citrus & Raspberry won a Master for being full of “delicate fresh fruit, citrus, and long-lasting finish”.Are you above average interested in gin? Then you’re in for a treat! Bergen has its very own Gin Festival, held for the first time in 2019. It was such a great success that it called for repetition. Here you will find distillers, good stories, other gin nerds - and lots of gin.