Bryan Ingram/Stuff
Co-owner of Elemental Distillers Ltd, Ben Leggett, with a bottle of Roots Marlborough Dry Gin, voted best dry gin on the word.
Marlborough is a region famous for its wine, but there’s another drink now capturing the world’s attention: London Dry Gin.
Roots Marlborough Dry Gin, produced by Elemental Distillers Ltd of Blenheim, was awarded World’s Best London Dry Gin at the World Gin Awards 2023 in London on Friday (NZ Time).
The distillery was founded in 2018 by Ben Leggett and Simon Kelly and had been getting stronger ever since.
Leggett attended the awards ceremony in London and before flying back to New Zealand posted a video address thanking everyone who had helped make such a product and award possible.
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“Last night was an absolutely surreal experience, [when] we proudly accepted the grand trophy for the best London Dry Gin in the world at the Gin Awards.
STACY SQUIRES
“If it’s been used as food in the New Zealand bush, there will be a gin using it now,” says Anthony Michalik of Christchurch’s Curiosity Gin.
“I just wanted to give a shout-out to all the people… who have been a huge part of our story, our development over the last three and a half years,” he said.
Leggett praised his business partner and “partner in crime” Kelly for believing in the venture from the start and thanked his legion of volunteers.
“To all the volunteers who just got past epic whether it be helping pick [sic] gorse thrives in the hills of the Wairau Valley whether it be peeling grapefruit, helping us with bottling days or just generally the community who have been incredibly supportive from day one.
“So this is a win for all of you too, because you are as much a part of this brand as the rest of us and of course for all the Kiwis who are doing great things in the spirits industry,” Leggett said.
The silver and bronze awards in the category were also claimed by Kiwi brands, with Queenstown’s Broken Heart Original Gin in second place and Thames’ Awilidian Coromandel Spiced Gin in third place.
Presented by Gin Magazine, the first round of voting included blind tastings by judges that determined the winners in each country category, followed by a second round that decided the title of the world’s best.
SCOTT HAMMOND/STUFF
Leggett with equipment he and his team use to distill the world’s finest London Dry Gin.
Gin Magazine editor-in-chief Bethany Whymark said they were “overwhelmed” by the quantity and quality of entries for this year’s awards.
“The World Gin Awards are going from strength to strength and act as our compass to track the progress of the gin market in countries around the world,” said Whymark.
The botanicals used to make Roots Marlborough Dry Ginnow officially the best of its kind in the world, including wild kawakawa berries from Canterbury and gorse flowers from Marlborough and fresh Gisborne grapefruit.
The only ingredient that didn’t come from New Zealand was juniper, which didn’t grow in the southern hemisphere.
BRYA INGRAM/STUFF/Marlborough Express
Set amongst a backdrop of vineyards, those behind Elemental Distillers Ltd want to try something different.