I get around

Remember how I was a judge at the 2025 Australian Gin Awards?

My duties kicked off with tasting 21 barrel-aged gins at 9.30am, followed by a gazillion flavoured ones and finally the seven category winners to determine the Best in Show.

You have to be super careful to spit them all out or you’d be completely doolally.

Anyways, last night was the awards presentation – that’s a pic of me with my fellow judges.

It’s a long way from accidentally being a judge at Miss Nude Australia …

The ceremony was held at Ester Distillery in Marrickville and I took my sister along as my plus one.

Bugger. We forgot to take a selfie.

Anyways, I judged the Barrel Aged and Flavoured Gin categories, plus all the category winners to choose the Best in Show.

All the gins were blind tasted so it was a shock to learn that Ester – which has hosted the ceremony for the past two years – took out the top awards for Barrel Aged, Old Tom and Best in Show!

Ester’s Co-founder Felix Clark, is also its head distiller and a thoroughly nice bloke. He shucked us a few delicious oysters on our way through the door, accompanied by one of his pre-batched martinis.

Ester won Best in Show with its fabulous Old Tom gin.

Old Tom gin is a sweetened style of gin that was popular in 18th-century England. It is slightly sweeter than London Dry gin and is known for its smooth, balanced flavour, making it a favourite in the craft cocktail movement.

It is apparently unknown for an Old Tom gin to win Best in any Show. London Dry and Navy Strength tend to steal all the glory.

Awards Chairman Mikey Enright said: “The Old Tom style of gin is always a tough category to judge, but this one was exceptional within the entire gin category.

“This gin has an elegant nose; the palate is packed with natural sweetness from a balanced array of botanicals. The finish is warm and everlasting and it’s a truly remarkable gin.”

Here’s my arty cocktail pic from the night …

Other Best in Class winners were:
Blackwattle Distilling Co –Classic Dry (NSW)
Little Blessings Brewing – Contemporary (SA)
Overproof – Prohibition Liquor (SA)
Strait Brands – Traditional Gin Liqueurs (TAS)
Kendor Distillery – Flavoured (QLD)

My sister and I had a fabulous time meeting the distillers, drinking gin and tonics featuring the winners and nibbling on charcuterie.

Fortunately, that’s me done with social whirling for a few days. I need some sleep.

Song of the day: The Beach Boys “I get around”