Wowsers, it’s been a long cold month hasn’t it? But it’s finally over so here’s my round-up of what I’ve been up to.

Booze News

I was shocked and saddened to hear that fellow spirits judge Stephen Kennard died at the end of 2023. A gentleman in the truest sense of the word, it was always a pleasure to spend time with Stephen and he will be sorely missed. My thoughts are with all his family and friends.

New Gin Alerts

There are some stunning new bottles hitting the shelves this month. Hailing from Japan Ukiyo Spirits have added a Tokyo Dry Gin to their range, featuring yuzu, mikan, sakura and sansho, and Roku Gin have released a limited Sakura Bloom Edition to celebrate Japan’s cherry blossom season. Meanwhile back in the UK, Warrendale Wagyu present WA-GYN; a 44% gin washed with molten Wagyu fat for 48 hours before being triple filtered for bottling! And, always a fan of the unusual, Hendrick’s latest release from their Cabinet of Curiosities is already hitting shelves ahead of its official launch on 1st March 2024. Inspired by a 17th-century fruity French experiment, Hendrick’s Grand Cabaret is said to seduce with “pirouettes of decadent stone fruit and shimmies of sweet herb”!

My Month in Gin

I kicked off the month recording a virtual seminar on Sustainability in Glass for the IWSC and Crafdi. Hosted by David T Smith, the panel also included Russ Wakeham from Two Drifters Distillery and Fiona Humphries, Quality & Sustainabilty Compliance Lead at Sipsmith, and will be available online soon.

I also had the pleasure of attending the World Gin Awards 2024 Final at London’s Dockside Vaults. I had a wonderful time judging the finalists in the London Dry, Signature Botanical and Navy Strength categories as well as catching up with friends old and new. Congratulations to all the Country Winners and good luck to the finalists. Keep your eyes peeled for all the World’s Bests which be announced on 22 February 2024! 

Finally, I’m delighted to announce that I have been shortlisted for Consumer Drinks Communicator of the Year 2024 in the People’s Choice Drinks Awards! Winners are selected by public vote so I’d be super grateful if you could hit this link and lend me your support.

Welcome to My Collection

Huge thanks to Whitebox for this brilliant box of their cracking canned cocktails, to Terlingham Vineyard for these samples of their Bacchus Dry Gin, to Hardaker’s Fine Spirits for a bottle of their London Dry Gin and to Whitley Neill for their Distiller’s Cut Gin, and also to Elephant Gin for picking my name out of their advent giveaway hat to win their incredible Orange & Cocoa Gin!

Catching Up and Looking Forward

After much consideration I’ve finally selected my top ten gins of 2023 so, if you haven’t already had a read, please do check it out now! Or, alternatively, learn all about fourth-generation coppersmiths Forsyths in this article I wrote for the IWSC. Looking ahead to next month, it would be remiss of me not to remind you that voting for the People’s Choice Drinks Awards closes on Monday 19th February so I’ll be keeping my fingers firmly crossed until then… See you on the other side! 🍸🛎🛎