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23 May 2024 ~
A gin created to pay homage to Geelong has beaten more than 60 gins from the UK, USA, Australia, France, Canada, New Zealand, Brazil and Mexico to be voted best in the world.
Australian Distilling Co.’s Geelong Gin won the overall Best of Class – Platinum Award at the recent 2024 international SIP Awards, the only annual global spirits competition that enlists anonymous consumers as judges and, as such, is regarded as the best and most competitive gin awards in the world.
Geelong Gin out-tasted gins from some of the world’s greatest gin brands and distilleries, including Highclere Castle, Brockman’s, No. 3 London Dry Gin and Eden Mill St Andrew’s in the UK, Martin Miller’s in the US, and Archie Rose in Australia.
This is the second time a gin from the Australian Distilling Co. has won the prestigious Best of Class - Platinum Award, with its Adelaide Gin winning big in 2022.
“With Geelong Gin joining our Adelaide Gin as winners of the world’s best gin, we are proud to be recognised as Makers of the World’s Best Gin and Australia’s Most Awarded Distillery with more than 300 global awards,” said company founder Michael Hickinbotham whose father and grandparents were born in Geelong.
“Given my family’s roots and connections to Geelong, I’m thrilled our gin dedicated to this fantastic city and region has been recognised as the best in the world.” His great-grandfather David was a pivotal player in the Geelong Cats premiership sides in the 1880s and Michael said he enlisted the help of the late Frank Costa, former Geelong Football Club president, when designing Geelong Gin’s label. “I presented five short-listed designs for the label to Frank, a legend of Geelong, and he took great delight in choosing the final one. Frank was a great friend to my father and my family, so having that connection is nice.”
Geelong Gin is one of eight city spirits, four destination spirits and six national spirits in the Australian Distilling Co.’s portfolio that each pay homage to their name. “We have a footprint of distilleries in every mainland state, and our range is proudly parochial,” Michael Hickinbotham said.
Each of Australian Distilling Co.’s gins champions local ingredients and iconic locations to ensure every spirit truly tastes of the community that inspired it.
A classic dry gin that drinks well with tonic water or a simple basil garnish, Geelong Gin’s juniper base is complemented with subtle overtones of raspberry sweetness to balance its peppermint gum and black pepper flavours.
Product | Subcategory | Medal Awarded |
Gin | Best of Class - Platinum & Consumers Choice Award | |
Navy Strength Gin | Platinum & Consumers Choice Award | |
Gin | Platinum & Consumers Choice Award | |
Gin | Double Gold & Consumers Choice Award | |
Gin | Double Gold & Consumers Choice Award | |
Vodka | Double Gold & Consumers Choice Award |
Since 2018, our founding vision has been centred on creating a portfolio of world-class spirits that celebrate and connect with the uniquely Australian way of life. By championing local ingredients and iconic locales, we ensure every bottle says something about the community that inspired it.
Australian Distilling Co. can trace its origins to 1930s Australia, when the company’s forefather, a gifted chemist named Alan Robb “Hick” Hickinbotham, started a journey to fulfil his passion for crafting refined wine and spirits. In 1936, Hick established Australia’s, and one of the world’s, first university degrees dedicated to oenology and viticulture at Adelaide University’s famed Roseworthy campus. Hick’s grandson, Michael Hickinbotham, a third-generation winemaker and distiller, established Australian Distilling Co., combining his family's entrepreneurial spirit with a desire to create spirits of exceptional quality that capture the essence of Australia.
Michael’s unwavering commitment led him to seek out the best and most creative minds in distillation. He returned to the University of Adelaide, where he found Associate Professor Graham Jones, of the School of Agriculture, Food Wine, a kindred spirit who shares Michael’s commitment to excellence and is renowned in Australia for his mix of technical expertise and creativity. Their first gin was blended, refined and distilled at the University of Adelaide’s Hickinbotham Roseworthy Wine Science Laboratory, named in honour of Michael’s grandfather.
Australian Distilling Co. blends the Hickinbotham family’s thirst for knowledge with Dr Graham’s technical brilliance with exceptional spirits, and a shared spirit of innovation. Every bottle is a story waiting to be discovered.