A distillery in Ulverston has started its year on the right foot after earning international recognition.
Shed One's new Quince Botanical Vodka and Ulverston 23 Gin both received Bronze accolades at the World Drinks Awards 2024.
It marks a first award for Shed One’s new range of flavoured botanical vodkas, which only came into production in late 2023.
Owner and co-founder, Zoe Arnold-Bennett said: “It’s a gin that’s very close to our hearts and one we’re proud to produce as we love living here and discovering the wealth of produce we can forage and pick on our doorstep.
"It’s also one of the benefits of being a small batch producer, as we have the freedom to experiment with all kinds of ingredients – not just in our gins but also in our botanical vodkas and sweet treats in our botanical-inspired 'Afternoon G&Teas'."
Shed One’s Ulverston 23 Gin was launched following the success of its predecessor a year earlier, and was unveiled at the 2023 Westmorland Show.
Ulverston 23 was created using botanicals foraged from local hedgerows and beauty spots within just a mile radius of the distillery.
Zoe added: "We’ve introduced rowan berries, meadowsweet, wild thyme, water mint, and sticky willy – otherwise known as galium aparine.
"Without giving too much away, they combine to make some quite interesting flavours whilst still remaining a light, refreshing, and easy to drink London Dry Gin.”
There were more than 900 entries from almost 50 countries in this year’s Gin Awards, which was why the team was even more delighted to pick up an award in the Contemporary Style Gin category.
Their award-winning vodka is handmade with locally foraged botanicals grown in Ulverston’s Ford Park walled kitchen garden.
A part of every sale of Quince Vodka is donated back to Ford Park charity.
Veronika Karlova, chair of judges for the World Vodka Awards, said: "Year on year we see an increase in World Vodka Awards entries for varietal, botanical, and flavoured categories, which confirms that the future of vodka is leaning towards styles with a lot of character and flavour.”
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