300 gins on the tasting table / Boar is Gin of the Year / Distilleries from the Black Forest at the forefront

In hardly any other segment is the aromatic and qualitative diversity as great as in the world of gins, and it’s all too easy to lose the overview. However, the results of Meininger’s International Spirits Award 2021, which put around 300 different gins to the tasting, now provide reliable orientation in the juniper jungle. The basis for the evaluation was once again the proven ISW scheme, in which the products are not only judged, but also described in a decidedly sensory way.

The wide variety of distillates prompted the jury, consisting of spirits experts, distillers and bar professionals, to award a total of 46 gold and 40 silver medals during the large blind tasting. Four gins also received awards for outstanding quality in their respective categories.

Gin of the Year national: BOAR Blackforest Premium Dry Gin
In 2019, this benchmark from the Black Forest already won the title of “Gin of the Year”, followed by a gold medal in 2020, and in 2021, the characterful dry gin brilliantly secured the coveted special award at national level. BOAR thus impressively underlines its class and symbolises continuity at the highest level. Incidentally, the secret that makes it so harmonious is the use of Black Forest truffles in the botanical mix.
 

Gin of the year international: Broker´s Premium London Dry Gin
This is what a true titleholder looks like: after its triumph in the same category last year, Broker’s Premium London Dry Gin will again reach the summit of the ISW international gin Olympus in 2021. In its powerful 47% by volume variant, it is a real highlight among the gins of classic style, whose ideal image it serves perfectly.
 

Gin of the Year barrel-aged: GINSTR Barrel Aged Gin
Barrel-aged gins have been enjoying greater popularity for some time, as they are most likely to leave the popular field of application of gin in classic highballs and also serve the target group of purists. The GINSTR Barrel Aged Gin from Stuttgart does this in an extremely impressive way and thus secures the first-ever special prize as the best barrel-aged gin of the year. of the year with barrel ageing. After all, the final ageing gives it exactly the harmonious-complex dimension that one might expect from a gin of this style and thus interprets the subject of gin in an extremely exciting way.

Sloe Gin of the Year: Monkey 47 Schwarzwald Sloe Gin
Monkey 47 can justifiably be called the spark of the new German gin miracle. The Black Forest company, which has since become a global brand, redefined gin in terms of both quality and aroma and is considered a pioneer of the national New Western Style movement. With Monkey 47 Sloe Gin, the makers have once again succeeded in creating a masterpiece that adds a fruity, tart and sour dimension to the standard Monkey and takes home this award with aplomb. Sloe Gin is characterised by its red colour and fruity sloe flavour.

“To taste 300 gins is quite an achievement and a real sensory challenge. But our jury has once again shown all its class and filtered out great winners. But it was also noticeable that the aromatic interpretation of a gin is producing ever more unusual stylistic blossoms. This is of course an exciting development, as long as the samples stay within the rules. But unfortunately this is not always the case,” says Alexander Thürer, board member of ISW. “The perceptibility of juniper is precisely the central characteristic of the gin category,” adds tasting director Christian Wolf. “If this was not present, we had to draw a clear line. What was particularly pleasing, however, was the continuity shown by numerous products, some of which have been part of the competition for years. Thus, our special awards have once again shown: spirits with quality are not one-hit wonders!”

The next themed tasting will take place in mid-May, when the jury will dedicate itself to the exciting category of aperitifs as well as to non-alcoholic distillates, which are gaining in popularity.

An overview of all medal winners of the April tasting can be found at: https://www.meininger.de/en/spirits/tastings/international-spirits-award/results

About Meininger’s International Spirits Award ISW
The international spirits competition was launched 18 years ago by Meininger Verlag. Until 2020, spirits experts from all over the world gathered once a year in Neustadt an der Weinstraße to taste and evaluate spirits of all kinds from all over the world. With the new orientation towards a monthly, theme-specific tasting format, the competition guarantees an even more detailed tasting and assessment of the submitted spirits by a proven jury of experts, now focusing specifically on special spirits categories.

Meininger’s International Spirits Award ISW is one of the most important spirits competitions in the world today. With its tasting methodology, the competition sets new standards in the field of spirits evaluation. Based on the international 100-point scheme, the spirits are not evaluated comparatively, but individually according to appearance, smell and taste by a jury of experts without knowledge of the producer. In addition, the competition describes each tasted spirit sensorially in terms of the aromas and attributes typical of the respective competition category. From this, an aroma diagram is created that is comprehensible and understandable for distillers and consumers and gives a first impression of the flavour of the spirit.

Founded in 1903 in Neustadt an der Weinstraße, Meininger Verlag is one of the oldest German specialist publishers. The company specialises in particular in the wine and spirits sector. Internationally, Meininger Verlag has made a successful name for itself with the MUNDUS VINI Grand International Wine Award. In addition to well-known trade magazines, the media company organises trade fairs, industry events and trade congresses. The portfolio of Meininger Verlag also includes FINEST SPIRITS in Munich, the trade fair for premium spirits with an international festival character.