If you were following #GinADayMay this year you’ll understand why this gin monthly is a few days late. It was another great year for the social media challenge I launched in 2019, but it was pretty time consuming too, and that certainly wasn’t all I was up to either…

Booze News

As is so often the case these days, this month’s booze news is a mixed bag. On the one hand, Australia’s Never Never Distilling Company has been acquired by Asahi Group for an undisclosed sum, securing the brand’s future and enabling it to reach a wider range of drinkers. Meanwhile, both Colorado’s Golden Moon Distillery and the UK’s Lowestoft Distillery Company have both, sadly, ceased trading. Stephen Gould, the owner of Golden Moon, had put the company up for sale after being “negatively affected” by the challenges of the past few years but, having thought he had secured an investor, recently announced that “the company is now out of cash and time”. 

New Gin Alerts

A few new releases caught my eye recently, including Berkshire Botanical Admiral’s Navy Strength and Valencian Orange & Grapefruit Gins, Tarsier’s Ken Hom Gin described as an homage to the classic Chinese flavours of 5 spice, The Gower Gin Company’s Langland Gin made in collaboration with local artist Craig Jones, and Audemus Poire Poivrée; the official gin for World Martini Day 2024.

My Month in Gin

In addition to a little thing called #GinADayMay (which was a great success – thank you to everyone who took part!) I spent a lot of time this month judging, including two days sampling low-and-no drinks and food for Great Taste at the Guild of Fine Food, and five days judging everything from non-alcoholic wine and RTDs to classic, contemporary and flavoured gin at IWSC. It was hard work but also a lot of fun, and we definitely found some fantastic products along the way, including New Zealand’s Strange Nature Gin and BEG New World Navy Gin from Brazil which both scored an amazing 98 points! The full IWSC results are now available here, and the Great Taste results will be announced in July.

After a solid 8 days of back-to-back judging and writing I was also delighted to attend a wine masterclass at the Guild of Fine Food on my day off. In addition to learning all about the wines of Italy’s Alto Adige DOC and Etna DOC with top sommelier Beatrice Bessi, we were also treated to an incredible lunch by chef Lorenzo Salami who showcased Pecorino Romano PDO in an incredible range of dishes, including mushroom profiteroles, smoked beef tartare cornetti, asparagus risotto and even Stroopwafels with pear caramel!

Welcome to My Collection

I was lucky enough to receive lots of goodies this month! Thanks to Wildjac for their Pink Grapefruit & Lime Gin, to Berkshire Botanical for their Admiral’s Navy Strength Gin, to Hoxton Spirits for not one but two bottles of their Dry Gin and to Height of Arrows Gin for their stunning new bottle. I’m also delighted to have received El Mayor Tequila Blanco and a selection of Whitebox’s new canned cocktails: Spicy Margarita, XO Vieux Carré and Straight-Up Daiquiri.

A fellow Great Taste judge also kindly gifted me this Cocktail Growbar – containing cinnamon basil, borage and lemon balm seeds – from The Gluttonous Gardener, and I couldn’t resist treating myself to this Renais Édition Anniversaire pin badge set!

Catching Up and Looking Forward

I’d love to say it’s time for a rest, but with World Gin Day and World Martini Day coming up, alongside lots more gin judging and a few other events, I think it’s going to be another busy month! See you on the other side and, in the meantime, keep an eye out for my next Drinksbiz column.🍸🛎🛎