For half a century the International Wine AND Spirit Competition (IWSC) has been recognizing and rewarding the very best wines and spirits in the world. This year’s competition was held on July 30th, 2019 in London.
For the first time ever Croatian gin won the first place – Old Pilot’s Gin won the London Dry Gin trophy. A truly big win for the company as it is such a popular category. Brands that achieve Gold medals in IWSC Competition are put forward to win the overall trophy for their specific category.”Whilst gin is certainly not a new trend in the spirits world, the IWSC has continued to see an increase in entries, particularly in the category of flavored gin. The use of tea as a botanical both before and after distillation to bring complexity and structure to the spirit is a growing trend within the category, with tea gins being entered for awards of varying styles this year”, they wrote at the official IWSC website.
Behind the brand Old Pilot’s Gin there are two pilots, friends and business partners Hrvoje Bušić and Tomislav Anadolac who wrote that they are overwhelmed by the emotions and grateful to the judges of the International Wine and Spirit Competition on their Instagram.
However, this is not a first award for this amazing company, last year Old Pilot’s Gin was voted the best Croatian craft gin, and this year they also won a gold at the San Francisco Spirits Competition. This shouldn’t be that surprising as it is made entirely from natural Croatian ingredients, such as juniper, olives and lavender.
Photo source: Old Pilot’s Gin /Matej Grgić
