The winners of the 2024 Australian Gin Awards have been announced, with New Zealand’s Bluff Gin scooping the Best in Show trophy.

Awards Chairman Mikey Enright announced seven trophy winners during a presentation event last night at Marrickville’s Ester Spirits Distillery.

The judges described Bluff Gin an excellent example of the Classic Dry style. It triumphed over 400 gins entered into this year’s awards.

The judging notes said: “A classic style gin achieving a standard of excellence. Beautifully balanced with top class integration of botanicals into the classic framework. An exceptional gin.”

Located in New Zealand’s southernmost town, Bluff Distillery sits within a beachside building in a converted freezing works. The winning gin, with its distinctive glass buoy bottle, only launched in March 2024. The first batch sold out within five days.

Co-Founder and Distiller Chris Fraser said it was an honour to be recognised on the international stage for a gin that represents the ruggedly beautiful spirit of Bluff.

“It’s great validation for us as a team. Just as everything else in Bluff – the gin is what it says on the tin, we wanted to make a gin that respected the classic London Dry recipes created hundreds of years ago,” he said.

“There’s been exponential growth in gin brands in the past few years with all sorts of non-traditional botanicals and infusions. A bit like Bluff, we decided to stay authentic to the heritage of Gin so it’s great to see our strategy – to stay true to who we are – has been recognised by the judges.”

“There’s something remarkable about winning a trophy in Australia for a classic London Dry Gin distilled in Bluff 19,000kms from the UK,” added Co-Founder and Brand Director David Nash. 

“You wouldn’t know it, but we decided on the gin before we decided on the bottle. As a team we knew we were onto something special with what Chris had distilled, so we needed to house it in something that could proudly sit on the top shelf.”

Learn more about Bluff Distillery here.

The trophy winners

• Classic Dry including London Dry: Bluff Gin Bluff Distillery
• Contemporary Style Gin: Chilli & Rose Juniper Society by Old Young’s
• Matured Gin: Christmas Gin (Barrel Aged) Cauldron Distillery
• Old Tom Gin: Larrikin’s Grin Old Tom Kilderkin Distillery
• Over Proof Gin: Navy Strength Gin Wild Flower Gin Distillery
• Traditional Gin Liqueurs: Ounce Gin ‘Shiraz’ Imperial Measures Distilling
• Other Flavoured Spirits using a gin base: Pink Gin Little Stiller Distillery

The Gin Packaging Awards were concurrently judged by a team of eight marketing gurus and chaired by Lindsay Silcox.

This year’s winning bottle was Harrington Bjugard Distilling Dry Gin 700mL in a classic smoked glass bottle.

All winning gins will feature at the St Kilda Gin Festival from 13-15 September 2024 as a collection presented by the AGDA.

View the full list of winners here: australianginawards.com.au

Judging the Australian Gin Awards

Drinks Digest Editor Alana House was on the judging panel for the Traditional Gin Liqueurs category at the 2024 Australian Gin Awards, alongside Charles Casben from Moya’s Juniper Lounge and Andrew Howell from The Gin Boutique.

“We tasted some incredible traditional gin liqueurs on a happy July afternoon, including two stunning Gold Medal winners,” House said.

“As someone who prefers their desserts in liquid form, these medal winners were a delicious experience.”

Entries in the Traditional Gin Liqueurs category are generally influenced by traditional Sloe Gins, where a dry gin is macerated with fruit and then lightly sweetened.

The category may include Sloe Gins and Sloe-Style Gins as well as similar alternatives, with a minimum ABV of 25%.

Sloe gins were invented in the 17th century when laws in England required division of land, with sloe berry hedgerows became an inexpensive natural fencing solution.

“While the sloe berries on their own are tart and bitter, Brits thought it was a waste not to use them for something, so they began infusing them in gin to make ‘poor man’s port’,” House said.

“In the 20th century Sloe gin went upmarket and appearing in classic cocktails such as the Charlie Chaplin.

“Now, in the 2020s gin liqueurs perfect in two of the decade’s favourite summer drinks: spritz cocktails and highballs. With less bitter notes and more fruit and floral flavours they’re regarded as an ‘easy-to-drink’ crowd-pleasing alternative to London dry gin.

“The category winner for the 2024 Australian Gin Awards – Ounce Gin ‘Shiraz’ by Imperial Measures Distilling – was a very elegantly balanced berry liqueur with an alluring nose and long finish.”

The award was accepted by co-founder and head distiller David Danby. The accolade came just days after the distillery won five trophies at the 2024 Tasting Australia Spirit Awards.

Crafted by Imperial Measures Distilling in collaboration with Massey Wines, Ounce Gin ‘Shiraz’ features juicy dark fruit-forward Shiraz grapes from McLaren Vale.

Complemented by juniper, grapefruit, hibiscus, elderberry, cinnamon, black pepper, and cacao nib, it has an RRP of $74 and is available here from the distillery or through retailers including Dan Murphy’s.

The Australian Gin Awards were founded eight years ago by the Australian Gin Distillers Association (AGDA).