Family-owned Irish distillery Lough Ree, an exhibitor at the inaugural Moodie Davitt Virtual Travel Retail Expo, has claimed three medals – two golds and a silver – at the 2020 The Spirits Business World Gin Masters awards.
Sling Shot Irish Gin, which was launched in October 2018 and claims to be the only gin that contains a peat distillate, took top honours with a gold medal in the Ultra Premium class.
Newcomer Aiteal Irish gin claimed gold in the Microdistillery category. It is distilled with Irish whey spirit and Irish juniper.
Lough Ree’s Mist + Moss, which was developed last year with The Armada Hotel team using sustainably foraged botanicals from County Clare, won a silver medal in the Contemporary Gin class.
Lough Ree Co-Founder Mike Clancy said: “Our focus on producing gins with distinctly Irish flavours has been rewarded with great recognition at the World Gin Masters.”
He noted that Sling Shot’s gold was its ninth international award.
“As a small, family-owned Irish distillery, we aspire to produce spirits that can compete with the best in the world and these awards are great validation for the quality of the ingredients we get from our Irish suppliers and the work that our team does to turn them into fine Irish spirits,” Clancy added.
Note: Lough Ree Distillery is a Silver Partner at the inaugural Moodie Davitt Virtual Travel Retail Expo, one of many partners in what is turning out to be the key travel retail event of the year.
Clancy said he was excited to participate in the new Virtual Expo format. “There are no large face-to-face events this year where we have the opportunity to meet with our duty free and international partners. We see this very much as a means to continue existing conversations with a view to expanding our distribution footprint and showcase products like our multi award-winning Sling Shot Distilled Irish Gin and The Bridge Irish Whiskey to new partners across the globe.
“Having met with the Moodie Davitt team, we’ve been impressed by their boundless energy and commitment to the travel retail sector and we know this will be a ground-breaking event.”