Sky Wave Gin in Bicester named Best Contemporary Gin in the country

Sky Wave Gin, based in Bucknell near Bicester has been named Best Contemporary Gin in England at the Country Winners round of the World Gin Awards.

Rachel Hicks, distiller and co-founder, said: “We are delighted that our signature Sky Wave London Dry Gin has been named the Best in England. We had hoped to win a bronze, silver or gold medal but this is the ultimate accolade.

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“We are one of the youngest gins in England and the newest gin in Oxfordshire, having launched just 15 months ago, so this is a huge endorsement of our delicious spirit.

“We hope this will help us grow by attracting new business through shops, pubs and distributors who wish to share Sky Wave Gin across England.”

Ms Hicks co-founded the distillery alongside her husband Andrew Parsons after a visit to gin school inspired them to fuse their love of gin with their appetite for adventures.

It took seven months of hard work, more than 40 recipe variations and a 300-strong taste panel to create a ‘smooth, complex expression’.

The couple's win was announced on January 15 at the historic Glaziers Hall in London where 150 distillers and industry experts assembled for the tasting and judging.

Now they have a chance of winning the title globally in the world final on February 27.

The competition celebrates the very best in all internationally recognised styles of gin.

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This year the competition had over 600 gin entries which were tasted by 26 judges from around the world who are industry experts, including high profile journalists, specialist drinks retailers and leading distillers.

In order to be nominated for the Best Contemporary Gin, gins had to be with flavour profiles where juniper is still discernible, but other flavours such as citrus, spice, and floral notes are more prominent than in a Classic Gin and it must be bottled at a minimum of 37.5 per cent ABV.

Ms Hicks, who launched Sky Wave Gin just over a year ago, added: “It took seven months of tastings and more than 40 recipes to get our signature London Dry Gin just right so we are thrilled to be recognised by this global competition.

“We are very much an artisan gin, we bottle and label by hand so each bottle is truly a labour of love.”

The World Gin Awards are said to be a guarantee to the customer of a quality product.

Anita Ujszaszi, awards director, said: “We have seen a huge increase in the quality of gin submitted in the seven years since we launched the World Gin Awards.

“The small producers are up there with the big global brands when it comes to quality.”

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The distillery’s title is the second distinguished award it has received with its first being in the international Women's Wine and Spirits Competition - which is judged by female wine and spirits buyers from around the world - where it won a Gold Medal.

Not only does The World Gin Awards select and reward the best gins in the world, but it also promotes the world’s best drinks to consumers and trade across the globe.

Sky Wave's gin is distilled in ultra-micro batches of 120 bottles at the distillery and each bottle is hand-labelled with the name and a tasting note.

The name of the gin comes from the pair’s past careers of a BBC radio reporter and a Royal Signals officer.

Oxfordshire is now home to a number of gin distilleries.

Last year, former airline pilot Ben Blackledge set up Abingdon Gin with his partner Janice Hewitt.

Sam Smith and Rob McGregor, owners of The Keep Bar - a pub in Wallingford - decided to create their own gin last December called Albino Flamingo, while The Oxford Artisan Distillery will celebrate its third birthday this year.

New Yorker, Daniel Szor, who founded a whiskey distillery in 2014 near Chipping Norton has now launched a Cotswolds Old Tom gin.