Running a small, independent distillery is one of the most rewarding things we have ever done, and one that keeps us on our toes every single day. You pour everything you have into what you make, and then it's sent out into the world and all you can do is hope that people feel what you felt when you made it. So, when The Gin Guide came back with three awards for our products, Gold for our Spring Vodka, Silver for the Spring Vodka Martini, and Silver for our AFTER NOON Apple & Cherry Liqueur. It felt like exactly that.
Like someone had tasted what we were trying to do and got it completely. For a small family distillery tucked away in the North Shropshire countryside, that’s not something we take lightly. Every award isn’t just a sticker on a bottle, it’s a validation of every early morning, every late night, every batch we have tweaked, tasted, and tweaked again until we felt it was ready. We make our spirits because we love making them and because we take pride in our Shropshire authenticity. The Gin Guide seems to agree and we are absolutely thrilled.
The Awards
Our Spring Vodka is one of the newer additions to the range, a product we’ve been quietly proud of since we first made it, but one that we knew would take time to find its audience. Vodka isn’t always the first thing people associate with The Shropshire Distillery, and we understood that. We made it anyway, because we believed there was a place for a genuinely considered, carefully made vodka from Shropshire. Something clean and smooth with a quiet depth to it. To have that recognised with a Gold from The Gin Guide so early in its journey means more to us than we can quite put into words. It feels like a real vote of confidence, and we hope it encourages anyone who hasn’t yet tried it to give it a go. As if Gold wasn’t enough, the Spring Vodka also picked up a Silver when drank as a vodka martini. A martini is one of the most unforgiving serves there is, no fruit, no sugar, nothing to soften the edges or distract from what’s actually in the glass. Just vodka, minimal vermouth, and honesty. We’re genuinely touched that it performed so well within a cocktail, and it’s given us a lovely excuse to suggest you try one at home this weekend. Stir it long and cold, strain it into a chilled glass, add a twist of lemon or an olive depending on your mood, and see what you think.
Completing the trio, our AFTER NOON Apple & Cherry Liqueur took Silver. The AFTER NOON range is something we have developed with a lot of care. Liqueurs that we hoped would feel a little different to what’s already out there. The Apple & Cherry liqueur is one we’ve been particularly fond of since we first made it. Our AFTER NOON range is rather underrated BUT the versatility and perfectly balanced flavour of the products makes them a great addition to your drinks cabinet or bar. This is why we are so thrilled with the award we have revived at The Gin Guide Spirit Awards as the product has got the recognition we believe it deserves.
We are not a big distillery. We don’t have a vast production facility or a corporate marketing team or a national distribution network. What we have is a beautiful, small distillery in Ellesmere, a deep love for what we do, and a family that shows up every single day ready to put everything they have into every single bottle.
Gareth and I started this because we believed that Shropshire had a story worth telling through its spirits. That the landscape, the water, the character of this quiet, underrated corner of England deserved to be poured into something people could taste, share, and enjoy. We built the distillery ourselves, in the truest sense. We learned as we went, made mistakes, fixed them, got better, and kept going. And somewhere along the way Lily joined us. First as someone who had grown up surrounded by it all, and now as a proper, brilliant part of the team.
Every bottle that leaves this distillery has a little bit of all three of us in it, and that’s not marketing speak; it’s just true. So when The Gin Guide, a respected, independent voice that evaluates hundreds of products from distilleries all over the country comes back with three awards for two of our newer bottles, it lands differently than you might expect. It’s not just professional validation, it’s a moment of feeling like we’re on the right track. To keep adding to the range even when it feels like a risk. We are so proud and we want to say a proper thank you, not a throwaway one at the end of a page, but a real one.
To everyone who has been part of this journey with us. To everyone who has bought a bottle, given one as a gift, visited the distillery, come to a BAR Night, taken part in one of our Gin & Vodka Schools, or simply told a friend that there’s a little distillery in Shropshire making something worth trying. You are part of why this is happening.
Independent businesses survive and thrive because of the people who choose to support them, and we never take that for granted. Not for a single day.
