As Pembrokeshire Gin Company's Welshcake gin achieves a Master gin award in the Gin Masters 2020, the highest accolade and one only a handful of gins achieve, we consider the process of creating a Master gin, and how we brought it to life.
Did we know we were creating a Master gin when we first began considering a gin that would evoke the flavours of the Welsh kitchen; a gin that would symbolise what might be the only bright moment in a miner’s dark day underground? In all honesty, no. But with 9 award-winning gins now under our belt, including one of the very few Welsh Master gins, we can reflect on a process that has now led to this most prestigious of awards.
Gin with a story
As with any R&D commission, when we were first approached with the idea for what would become iconic Welshcake gin, we spent time understanding what the customer was trying to achieve and how we could work together to turn that into something special.
As all our custom branded spirits do, this gin has a story, a mission: to reflect the mining heritage of Ammanford, a former mining town in Carmarthenshire, and of Wales. This heritage harks back as far as the seventeenth century, taking in pride and triumph as coal from Wales fuelled the UK’s industrial revolution, through the terrible tragedies that mining communities have experienced keeping the UK’s productivity stoked and to the decline of the industry and the social and economic impact that has had. We may be a coastal distillery, creating gins out on the west coast of Wales, but mining is a seam of Welsh history that touches every part of the country, from the Valleys to the sea.
Creating a Master gin
The flavours of a welshcake gin could never be in doubt; combining them successfully in a gin that would do the brand owner proud was the challenge. Our R&D process allowed for much tweaking of flavour, of tasting and consideration. Of small alterations; a little more of this, less of that – always having the final goal in mind. And the goal was never a goal of creating a Master gin. Simply to create something that rang true to the brand and to the brief we had been provided.
Roll on 18 months and the exciting news that Pembrokeshire Gin Company's Welshcake gin had won an award. Not just any award, but a prestigious Gin Masters ‘Master’ award. Sitting above the golds, the silvers and the bronzes, the ‘Master’ is the highest accolade that the Spirits Business gives to gins. In the tasting notes, the gin was recognised for “balancing the flavour of a traditional Welsh cake with the gin “really quite well”. All industries have their own languages, their codes, their hidden signals: for us, this understated comment speaks volumes to us about this recognition for Welshcake gin.
Create your gin with us
Fancy trying your hand at creating a Master gin? We work with a number of different brands and offer thoughtful and comprehensive R&D packages designed to bring your spirit to life through our custom branded spirits service.
Of course, we can’t guarantee a Master award, but with consideration and commitment, we will develop a gin for your brand to be proud of.
Call us today to discuss your custom branded spirit: 01239 872300
And if you’d like to try a Master Welsh gin, you can purchase Welshcake Gin from the Pembrokeshire Gin Co. Iechyd da!