Introduction:

If I had a dollar for every time someone asked, "Is New Zealand gin really award-winning?" I’d be sipping cocktails on a yacht by now! The quick and fizzy answer is yes, no doubt about it.

But hold onto your tonic water! The juicier answer is all about what "award-winning" really means, who's playing judge, and what makes a gin glitter with medal-worthy charm. With over a decade of distilling under my belt, I can assure you it’s much more than just slapping a snazzy gold sticker on a bottle.

In the last 10 years, the New Zealand gin scene has exploded like a confetti cannon, morphing from a handful of spirited craft distillers into a nationwide sensation. From classic London Dry vibes to bold, experimental flavours and native botanical fusions, we’ve got it all, even gins that sparkle! And yep, many of these beauties, including ours, have swaggered off with awards at both national and international shindigs.

At SIP Distilling Co., our mission is to make gins that are fun, thrilling, and unlike anything anyone’s ever sipped before. Our motto? Make it new, make it memorable, make people buzz about it.

From our glittering shimmer gins to our botanical-packed experiments, we pack creativity into every bottle. Here in Takapuna, we distill everything on-site with our 100 and 400 Litre copper stills and over 40 botanicals in our recipes, getting hands-on with every bubble and brew. We’ve had batches that wowed us, some that left us gobsmacked, and a few that… well, taught us valuable lessons. But that’s the charm of craft distilling, it's all about evolving, experimenting, and pouring passion into every drop.

So when we chat about New Zealand gin being award-winning, it's really a toast to the quality, creativity, and craftsmanship that define our spirited scene!

The Rise of New Zealand Gin:

In the gin world, New Zealand has pulled a magnificent Cinderella story, morphing from a quiet classic into a dazzling spectacle that’s turning heads worldwide! This magical makeover is all thanks to Kiwi ingenuity and a sprinkle of native flair with botanicals like kawakawa and manuka.

Enter the small-batch maestros, like SIP Distilling Co., who are shaking up the scene with over 40 botanicals, mixing quality with a twist of innovation. This friendly rivalry, with stars like Blush and Juno, has catapulted New Zealand gin onto the global stage.

Gin festivals are the ultimate party, where spirited distillers and adventurous tasters unite to celebrate bold, brave flavours. This daring dance of creativity and craftsmanship has crowned New Zealand gin as a standout sensation in the international arena. Cheers to that!

Awards: Do They Matter?

New Zealand gins, like SIP Original Dry Gin, are snagging shiny awards left and right, including a bronze medal at the 2023 San Francisco World Spirits Awards and a nod at the New Zealand Juniper Gin Awards. But hey, let's not forget that taste is like a wild roller coaster, everyone's ride is different! While big distilleries might have the cash to splash on contests, the little guys are all about top-notch quality.

Judges are all about clarity, balance, aroma, and versatility. These awards are like a megaphone, shouting New Zealand gin's greatness to the world, but ultimately, it’s all about what tickles your taste buds. Medals are just the cherry on top of these innovative, crafty creations!

What Makes a Gin Truly Award-Winning? (Our Expert Breakdown)

As a distiller with more than a decade of crafting liquid magic, I've discovered that creating an award-winning gin isn't about crossing fingers, it's all about precision, mad scientist-level experimentation, and truly knowing the spirit and its fans. At SIP Distilling Co., we dive headfirst into every batch like it's a treasure hunt. Our secret weapons? Eight mini copper stills that let us tinker with recipes more often than I change my socks. Each batch gets the VIP treatment with taste tests from our team, friends, and ambassadors, polishing flavours till they sing in perfect harmony.

But what does this magical brewing look like? Tiny tweaks in botanicals, secret maceration time switches, or even how we treat fruits before they join the gin party can make the difference between meh and magnificent. Tossing in a pinch of chili or a hint of coconut might just flip the flavour script entirely. Some batches surprise us like a jack-in-the-box, leaving our tasters in awe.

For me, a gin is award-worthy when it nails these three must-haves:

• Clarity and Smoothness
  • The spirit should be as smooth as a jazz tune, with no harsh notes, whether you're sipping it solo or in a cocktail.
• Balanced Flavours
  • All botanicals should dance together in harmony, no one hogging the spotlight.
• Mixability and Sipability
  • A top-notch gin shines both neat and mixed, playing nicely with tonics, cocktails, and even whimsical shimmer gins that dazzle the eye without changing the taste.

We've seen how our relentless tinkering pays off. Over the years, we've crafted a rainbow of gins, each with its own personality. Some are bold and mischievous, like our shimmer range that turns parties into sparkle fests. Others are the old-school classics, like our SIP Original Dry Gin, which snagged a bronze at the San Francisco World Spirits Awards 2023.

Tasting sessions are our secret weapon. Friends, ambassadors, and even a few lucky customers give us real-world feedback. Opinions can vary wildly, one might wrinkle their nose at a coconut-infused batch while another finds it heavenly. This variety is exactly why New Zealand gins are so thrilling, there's a bottle for every taste bud.

In the end, chasing medals isn't our goal, it's about creativity, care, and relentless refinement. Every choice, from botanicals to distillation methods, shapes the final brew. When everything clicks, we create a gin that not only scores points in competitions but, more importantly, brings joy to those who sip it.