Rakiura Distilling director Jim Turrell said he and his team were thrilled to receive the prestigious industry recognition announced on Thursday evening — especially as it had only been a month since they first commercially released the Stewart Island-made product.
"It’s the first and only competition we’ve entered. We’re stoked is a bit of an understatement really."
The gold medal was won in the contemporary dry section, alongside five other recipients and industry newcomers.
He thought the award was a real salute to head distiller Dave Patterson who worked hard on developing unique botanical flavours in the gin from locally foraged botanicals.
The win meant the new gin had a greater opportunity to shine brighter in what has become a crowded boutique market — particularly with gin connoisseurs.
"The gin itself has been particularly well received ... it’s sold so well.
"We are literally selling it as fast was we can make it."
Contemporary gins allowed for botanical variations on the traditional recipe, he said.
While this was the first competition they had entered, he now felt more encouraged to enter the New Zealand Spirit Awards next year.
He was looking forward to seeing how the new product would be received on the international stage later in the year.
"We are pretty excited to see how our gin stacks up against others that are best in the world.
"We’ve stacked up pretty good against the best in New Zealand.
"We want to keep raising the bar and develop our products and have them recognised in this way too."
By Toni McDonald
