Making gin began as a hobby Mr Wilson played with in his garage at the weekends.
But then he got a taste for it.
He quit his job as a commercial property manager and turned his distillery into a business.
‘‘The love of the hobby was unavoidable.’’
‘‘I never dreamt this could happen -not even for a second.
‘‘I’ve been kind of just playing things by ear and then the whole thing over the last few years has just snowballed dramatically.’’
Mr Wilson put the distillery’s popularity down to two things.
‘‘One is, we’ve always set out to make products sustainably and I think a lot of people really buy into that.
‘‘Our brand story seems to resonate with people in the way that we operate our business -the way that we have a connection to sustainability and using the land.
‘‘But also, being able to match that with the quality of the products that we make, has also been part of the success.
‘‘I think that it shows that we can have both -we can make it sustainably and the taste isn’t sacrificed.’’
It was fortunate at some point along the way he trusted his tastebuds to create ‘‘good’’ products, he said.
‘‘And I’ve learned since then that other people agree with me.’’
Mr Wilson said the awards capped off the Otago Peninsula distillery’s most successful awards campaign to date.
It had built a strong reputation for producing premium spirits, inspired by the landscapes, botanicals and stories of southern New Zealand.
Every spirit was distilled by hand, with an emphasis on small-batch production, premium ingredients and innovative New Zealand flavours, he said.
‘‘Winning medals is always exciting, but being named New Zealand Small Batch Distillery of the Year is recognition of everything we’ve been working towards over the past few years.
‘‘It’s a reflection of our entire range, our commitment to quality and the incredible support we’ve received from our customers and community.’’
The latest haul of awards means Sandymount Distillery holds on to the title of New Zealand’s most decorated distillery, having collected 117 medals over the past five years -including five best gin in category awards.
Mr Wilson said he celebrated the recent awards with a tipple of his gold-medal-winning Tī Kōuka Forest gin.
Other local award winners were Prophecy Distilling, of Earnscleugh, for its Finders gin, which won the champion classic gin category and Rakiura Distilling, for its Third Island gin, which won both the champion contemporary style and champion navy strength gin categories.
