Chairman’s Report
What a pleasure it was to Chair another Australian Gin Awards season. We had a team of nine judges who nosed, blind tasted, deliberated and commented on every entry into the competition. The judging team comes with a wealth of gin knowledge and experience. Adding guest judge George Grbich (Gin book author) from New Zealand this year gave even more depth to the panels. Overall the entries were of a higher standard this year across all categories from Classic, Contemporary, Old Tom, Matured, Navy strength, Flavoured and liqueurs with a gin base.
All entries were assessed, marked and the best in category was chosen. Once this process is completed we have a round table discussion with all judges and a tasting of the best in categories to determine the ‘Best in Show’. This is tough decision time because the gins are such high quality at this stage of elimination. There can only be one ‘Best in Show’ and it was so close this year between the final two. However a Navy Strength gin was voted the winner by a majority after several tastings.
Thank you to all who entered this year and I hope you find the comments valuable to the point where you will enter again in 2024 with added enthusiasm.
Mikey Enright
Chairman, Australian Gin Awards 2023.
The Trophy Winners
BEST IN SHOW
Jones and Smith Distillery
Epoch Navy Strength Gin
Spring Hill, NSW
THE JUDGES WROTE:
Full flavoured, very smooth and a most impressive gin!

CATEGORY 1 – CLASSIC DRY GIN
TROPHY
Lily Fields Distilling Co
Juniper Dry Gin
Annandale, NSW
THE JUDGES WROTE:
Excellent green juniper nose. Big, bold juniper and citrus flavours. The finish in particular is excellent.

CATEGORY 2 – CONTEMPORARY STYLE GIN
TROPHY
Vicar’s Son Gin
The Good Place – Cocoa & Mandarin
Point Chevalier, Auckland, NZ
THE JUDGES WROTE:
Bold and well balanced juniper. This gin presents a great mix of botanicals in a contemporary fashion.

CATEGORY 3 – MATURED GIN
TROPHY
Threefold Distilling
Australian Whisky Cask Barrel Aged Aromatic Gin
Glenelg East, SA
THE JUDGES WROTE:
We loved the fragrance. Nicely done.
Well deserving of a Trophy.

CATEGORY 4 – OLD TOM GIN
TROPHY
Sunset Gin
Golden Tommy
Kensington, VIC
THE JUDGES WROTE:
A super example of an Old Tom gin, full of flavour, lovely nose and pleasantly sweet.

CATEGORY 5 – OVER-PROOF GIN
TROPHY
Jones and Smith Distillery
Epoch Navy Strength Gin
Spring Hill, NSW
THE JUDGES WROTE:
A great nose – and the palate delivers a very well-rounded and well-balanced gin.

CATEGORY 6 – TRADITIONAL GIN LIQUERS
TROPHY
Western Tiers Distillery
Quamby Bluff
Sloe Gin
Westbury, TAS
THE JUDGES WROTE:
A fine example of the category and a benchmark sloe style gin.

CATEGORY 7 – FLAVOURED GIN
TROPHY
Hickson House Distilling Co.
Hickson Rd. Summer Cup
Dawes Point, NSW
THE JUDGES WROTE:
A very well presented and enjoyable spirit.

Congratulations to all the trophy winners of the 2023 Australian Gin Awards.

BEST IN SHOW:
Jones and Smith Distillery. Epoch Navy Strength Gin
Pictured: Tony and Dorothy accepting the AGA perpetual trophy.
The Medal Winners
Medal winners are listed here in alphabetical order. Toggle to open.
The Judging Team

Mikey Enright
(Awards Chairman) Co Founder & Director Barrelhouse Group

Lindsay Silcox
Gin Connoisseur

Trish Brew
Brand Ambassador, Fever Tree

Charles Casben
Owner/Manager, Moya’s Juniper Lounge

Glenn McPhee
Co Owner/Director/Manager, The Gin Boutique

Scott Fitzsimons
Manager, Top Shelf Group, Retail

Krystal Hart
Brand Ambassador, Campari

George Grbich
New Zealand’s
wise man of gin

Andrew Howell
Gin Enthusiast,
Co-Founder,
The Gin Boutique
Order your GIN Medal Stickers here
Please place your medal order before 15 November 2023 to meet the dispatch date of the printed labels by 1 December 2022.
Medal stickers are printed and dispatched by CCL Label Australia and payment will also be handled by CCL Label Australia.
*Please note: There is a minimum order of 1000 stickers. Cost is $125 per thousand plus GST (including standard shipping within Australia). Sticker sizes are 20mm x 20mm.

TROPHY MEDAL

GOLD MEDAL

SILVER MEDAL

BRONZE MEDAL
The Australian Gin Packaging Awards Results
Congratulations to the three winners
Sponsored by CCL – our Preferred Label Supplier. Need some ideas and a quote for your new labels?
Go to: graeme@denomination.design or dan@studiomolasses.com
The Judges:
Steve Morris (Chair) – CCL National Sales Manager, Graeme Offord – Denomination Design, Dan Parritt – Brand Director, Molasses Brand Design Consultancy, Kate Meyer – AGDA Chair, Jade Angelopoulous – Marketing Manager Schibello Coffee, Lindsay Silcox – Senior Judge, Australian Gin Awards.








