A gin distilled near Pembrokeshire’s Preseli Hills has received major recognition from industry specialists IWSC.
Golden Road Gin, which has been created by husband-and-wife team Phil and Jennifer Wheeler, is a copper pot distilled gin, created from 100% natural botanical ingredients on a small scale.
Around 100 international judges gathered in London for the IWSC 2024 Spirits Judging event to taste more than 4,000 spirits entries from around the world. The panel was comprised of Master Blenders, Master Distillers, Buyers from on-trade and off-trade, Spirits Educators, Consultants and renowned Spirits Communicators.
Just over a year since it was first bottled, Golden Road Gin has made the grade according to IWSC’s tried and tested tastebuds, taking silver in one of the biggest categories at the three-day event.
“We’re so proud of this latest accolade,” said co-founder Jennifer.
“Our feedback from the judges was that they loved our gin for its mix of smoky, spicy flavours with a touch of floral and citrus.
“Last year Golden Road Gin picked up some major recognition at the Great Taste Awards where we won bronze, so we’ve actually gone one step further this year and at the international level too, which is pretty epic when you think about it.’
Phil said:
“As big foodie people and with Jen originally training as a chef, we’ve both been passionate about high quality food and drinks for many years – especially gin.
“We had a realisation as we got a little older that life is for making the most of, so we decided to embark on a gin adventure of our own.
“We were introduced to an award-winning local distillery by a neighbour and we spent a year working in collaboration, spending days in their wonderful botanicals room crafting many different recipes.
“We’ve even worked with a mixologist who has helped us come up with some splendid cocktail recipes – our favourite one we have is called A Proper Paddington which has marmalade in it.”
