57˚ Skye earth + sea gin is delighted to announce its London Dry Gin has won a Gold Outstanding award in 2023 at the International Wine and Spirit Competition (IWSC).
Out of the 4,000 entries, only 100 spirits brands were awarded the Gold Outstanding award, placing 57 ˚ Skye earth + sea gin in the top 3% of entries.
The brand scored a near perfect 98 out of 99 points – a huge accolade for a brand that was only launched to consumers in November 2022.
Founded in 1969, the IWSC is considered to be the most prestigious competition of its kind in the world and its awards are acknowledged to be among some of the highest honours in the drinks industry.
Judging for the competition is unique in that it has two stages; first, the products are tasted blind by panels of industry experts, and products that receive the top medals are then subject to technical analysis before results are released.
57 ˚ Skye earth + sea gin was founded by two natives of the Isle of Skye, highly respected Gaelic musician Séamus Ó Baoighill and drinks distiller Seumas Gorman.
Both islanders realised the importance of perfecting their craft which has taken two years to achieve and has now been recognised with this global award.
Not only have the two young island entrepreneurs worked tirelessly to craft a gin that has received global recognition but they have also worked with a local team to build a distillery, located in Broadford, which opened its doors to visitors in the summer of 2022.
Visitors to the distillery can experience the production and bottling of the gin as well as enjoy a tasting and experiment with a number of different flavours.
There is also a shop where visitors can purchase both of the two gin expressions 57˚ Skye earth + sea London Dry Gin and 57˚ Skye earth + sea Banyuls Cask gin along with other distillations which have been created using ingredients local to Skye.
Commenting on this award, Co-Founder Séamus Ó Baoighill said:
“I am absolutely delighted that 57˚ Skye earth + sea gin has been recognised by such a prestigious competition and is a huge nod to the talent of our Skye native distiller, Seumas Gorman.
“His aim, along with that of the small team that makes this fantastic gin, was to produce a high quality locally-made handcrafted gin, which would make the people of Skye proud.
“He has done this in spades and we are so proud to now be recognised as a world class gin.
“We are a small local distillery and are excited to discover what this award will help us achieve as we evolve over the coming months.”
