Oxfordshire’s Sky Wave Gin was named the World’s Best Contemporary Gin 2020 at the World Gin Awards last night (27 Feb 20), just 18 months after being launched.

“We couldn’t believe it. We were up against around 150 gins including big names such as Manchester Gin, Martin Miller and Herno Gin,”  says Sky Wave Gin Master Distiller and Co-Founder Andrew Parsons.

The awards were announced at the international gala dinner in London last night, attended by gin companies, retailers and journalists from around the world.

Sky Wave Gin, based in Bucknell near Bicester, began as an outsider in the 600 strong competition, which is judged by 26 industry experts from around the world.

“We are a new, small artisan distillery, we create all our gin by hand, and we personally  label and bottle it too,” says Distiller and Co-Founder Rachel Hicks, “We entered the World Gin Awards last year and didn’t win anything.  So we tried again this year and in February we were crowned Best Contemporary Gin in England. But winning World’s Best Contemporary Gin is a dream come true.” 

Launched in 2018, Sky Wave Gin was developed  over seven months with hundreds of tastings and more than 40 recipes to get its signature London Dry Gin just right. Its 13 botanicals reflect Oxfordshire, with blackberries foraged from the hedgerows, and the gin is cut with Blenheim Palace Natural Mineral Water to create the award winning tipple.

Sky Wave Gin is now hoping the award will help attract new distributors. “Our gorgeous Oxfordshire gin has been recognised on a global platform and now we want to share it far and wide,” says Andrew, “We will be growing our workforce in Oxfordshire with new sales staff and we are very keen to expand our distribution network. We want to speak to companies who’d like to represent the Best Contemporary Gin in the World.”

“It really is a big deal as the World Gin Awards celebrates the very best in all internationally recognised styles of gin,” says Rachel.

Sky Wave Gin is currently enjoying great success, winning a Double Gold Medal in the Chinese Wine and Spirits Competition in January 2020 and a Gold Medal in the international Womens’ Wine and Spirits Awards 2020 in November.

So why the name? Sky Wave not only reflects the adventures Rachel and Andy experienced over mountains and seas, it is also a term used in radio; in their former lives, they were respectively a BBC radio reporter and a Royal Signals officer. It is available via skwyavegin.com and Amazon Prime.