Donaghadee’s Copeland Distillery wins trophy for best gin in the world

The Copeland Distillery, based in Donaghadee, has been awarded the Best Contemporary Gin Trophy for its Traditional Irish Gin at this year’s annual International Spirit and Wine Competition (IWSC).

Competing alongside 1,200 other gins, their Irish gin scored an impressive 99 points out of 100 and was awarded an Outstanding Gold medal before being awarded the overall trophy for 2022.

The IWSC Outstanding Gold award is reserved for spirits with “naturally exceptional balance, complexity and power”, and the judges’ comments on Copeland’s Classic Irish Gin included “aromatic and elegant” and “wonderfully balanced”. Trophy winners are selected following an additional blind tasting of all gold medal-winning spirits by nine IWSC judges, and the trophy represents the ultimate accolade at the IWSC and are awarded to the finest spirits.

Distilled at the producer’s Donaghadee premises, the coastal-inspired spirit is an ode to the rich maritime heritage of Co. Down.

Founder of The Copeland Distillery, Gareth Irvine, said: “Of course we’re delighted that our Classic Irish Gin has been awarded the Best Contemporary Gin Trophy at this year’s IWSC, putting our product on a global stage.

“The International Spirit and Wine Competition is the industry’s benchmark for quality so to be included, and to score so highly, is testament to our innovation and craftmanship. We are thrilled to be the first gin distillery on the island of Ireland to ever win a Trophy at the IWSC awards - sharing the history and heritage of Donaghadee is really important to us so I am delighted that these awards have given us the opportunity to bring further attention to our local community here.”

The annual wine and spirits competition has grown to become one of the largest competitions of its kind with the judges evaluating over 4,000 spirits from over 90 countries. Spirits are tasted and evaluated on a 100-point scale and awards are given out for gold outstanding (98-100 points), gold (95-97 points), silver (90-94 points) and bronze (85-89 points).

Copeland’s Smugglers’ Reserve Rum was also awarded a silver medal with the judges’ comments including, “an elegant nose of ripe pear, pineapple and hints of banana. A beautiful abundance of vanilla and caramel. Almost a fruit salad on the finish.”

With the distillery reaching sales of 12,500 cases in 2021, the accolades will support the business to deliver on its ambition to grow sales to over 25,000 cases across the UK and Ireland in 2022.

Mark Prentice, commercial director at Copeland Distillery, added: “We’re proud to represent Northern Ireland craftmanship on a global level and have the quality of our products recognised. It’s an incredible achievement to be able to say our gin is the Best Contemporary gin in the world for 2022! “This award will support our growth across the UK and Ireland. 2022 is a major year for us in terms of establishing our brand and developing a global footprint including new territories such as the Republic of Ireland, Australia and the US.”