The awards are in their sixth year and this is the first year a New Zealand Distillery has taken out a Trophy in this premier Australian competition. The Contemporary Class is the largest class in the competition with approximately 200 entries.
Vicar’s Son Gin is believed to be the smallest grain to glass distillery in the world. Each batch is made from scratch from barley and then distilled to a maximum of nine bottles.
The winning gin was created by Lucie Hrdina and distilled by her partner, Stewart Martel. They are co-founders of the distillery, located in their garage in Point Chevalier, Auckland. Stewart said: “Australian Gins are considered to be amongst the world’s best so to be acknowledged in Australia with this Trophy is a dream come true”.
Vicar’s Son Gin has been operating for only three years and in that time has accumulated eight gold medals and two Best in Class trophies. The couple’s goal is to be considered by their customers to be one of the best distilleries in New Zealand.
The winning gin is their “Good Place” expression which features cocoa and mandarin. It scored a total of 48 out of a maximum 50 points. The judges said it contained “bold and balanced Juniper, great mix of other botanicals in a contemporary fashion”.
Lucie and Stewart travelled to Sydney for the award presentation on 6 September.
