Gin distilled in Lancaster wins international award

Firecracker, the debut gin by the Lancaster Spirits Company, has earned a silver award at the London Spirits Competition.

A record 2,000 spirits were entered into this year’s awards, from 80 countries around the globe, with 965 products entered into the gin category.

Each product submitted was judged by a panel made up of some of the world’s leading figures from across the hospitality and drinks sectors, including independent drinks consultants such as Ivan Dixon; leading mixologists such as Federico Pavan and Diana Aladzic and spirits buyers such as Bryan Rodriguez.

Spirits were judged against three criteria: quality, value and packaging. To stand a chance of securing a bronze, silver or gold medal, the submitted spirits must rate highly in all categories, however, judges pay particular attention to the quality of the spirit itself, the deciding factor in each individual product’s overall final score.

Firecracker earned a score of 85 out of a possible 100, enough to secure the silver award.

Gerard Evans, the consultant distiller at the Lancaster Spirits Co, commented, "I am over the moon that we've received our second award for our Firecracker Gin.

"Created completely from scratch, using a secret blend of wheat and rye grains, our 200-year-old Lancastrian live yeast and water drawn from our own artesian well all of which we think makes this multi-award-winning gin pretty special."

Phil Simpson, founder of the Lancaster Spirits Company, said: "It's great news that our premium Firecracker Gin has been recognised for the second time with a silver award, ranking alongside some of the very best gins in the world.

"The success of our spirits is down to the unique way in which we make them but also down to the insight, experience and really hard work of every member of the team. We couldn’t have developed our distinctively Lancastrian spirits without them.’’