Judges

Originally hailing from New Zealand but relocating to Edinburgh in 2016 thanks to his Scottish wife, Alastair Noble (the Kilted Kiwi), originally discovered gin in 2008 thanks to best friend and hair of the dog in the form of gin martinis, after too many bourbons the night before. Alastair moved to West Australia, where he co-founded a small home brew distillery collective, and found himself gravitating more towards gin. Once he moved to Edinburgh with his wife, Alastair was delighted to discover a thriving Scottish Gin scene, which Alastair has continued to explore, building a collection of Scottish and global gins.

Anna first discovered a love for gin after an ill fated bike ride left her in need of a rejuvenating cocktail. As fate would have it, the barman poured a gin and bitter lemon and the rest, as they say, is history. A keen interest and thirst for knowledge of all things gin was born and grew through attending numerous Gin festivals. Anna was able to bring her passion for gin to her day job – hosting gin parties for Waitrose and John Lewis – in person and then virtually during the pandemic, as well as playing an integral role in bringing to market a limited edition cocktail at home box. Anna then branched out with her business Gintuition, where she shares her passion for local and regional gins with like minded gin lovers. Anna has WSET (Wine & Spirit Education Trust) Level 2 Award in Wine & Spirits.

Anne is a classically trained private Chef and Baker, currently running The Culinary Kiwi Bird.  She runs a sourdough and real bread micro bakery in Aberdeenshire using only organic Scottish flours for her breads.  Originally from New Zealand, it was during her extensive travels throughout Asia and Europe in her early 20s that she developed a fascination for unusual and innovative flavour combinations both in food and drink. Her favourite tipple is gin and she’s constantly on the lookout for new flavour profiles to both drink and incorporate into her cooking. Anne holds a WSET (Wine & Spirit Education Trust) Level 2 Award in Spirits.

Although Carol discovered gin quite a few years ago, it’s the recent growth of the category that saw her passion for the juniper spirit really develop. With new brands and producers, new stories and gin expressions to explore, Carol not only started growing her collection of gins but made it her goal to try different gins, tonics and garnishes. She has particularly enjoyed discovering some unsung gems from small producers. Carol also discovered the joy of making cocktails at home. With days spent looking after her grandchildren, the evenings and weekends provide her with the perfect excuse to relax with a G&T or cocktail on her time off. Throughout lockdown Carol proudly continued to buy and support small craft distillers.

Originally from Norway and Sweden, Emelie has lived most of her life in Scotland. She loves to travel the world, experiencing different cultures, landscapes and flavours. The thrill of gin tasting, for her, is in the freshness, bitterness and botanicals.

Helen joined a gin subscription service in 2018 to try new gins, which in turn helped her learn more about botanicals, the gin production process and the different gin styles. From there, Helen gravitated towards more Scottish Gins as her interest in gin continued to grow. Buying more Scottish Gins, attending gin events, chatting with distillers and brands online has all helped Helen learn more about the Scottish Gin category as a consumer, sharing her journey through her Instagram account.

With a busy schedule due to her job as a Depute Head Teacher at a nearby primary school, Jill enjoys spending time at the weekend with her family; socialising, relaxing and entertaining. Having come across gin when working as a student in the hotel industry, Jill has gone on to build a curated collection of gins and enjoys learning more about the people and brands.

Keeley is a proud mum of two and along with husband Stuart runs a multi-award winning micro-pub, The Penny Farthing in Kent. Keeley has worked in the world of hospitality and drinks for a number of years. Keeley also works for an essential oils company based in London where they rectify natural oils for use in spirits and tonics production. Keeley was introduced to gin by a friend close to twenty years ago and is a member of four gin clubs (just don’t tell her husband Stuart!). Keeley talks about her love of gin through her Instagram account ‘Gin Thursdays’ and is currently with The Open University studying The Science of Alcohol.

Keith Spence discovered gin in 2016 after sampling a number of small batch gins and from there he went on a personal gin journey which saw him create a dedicated room in his house to host his ever growing collection of gins from around the world, which includes over 120 Scottish Gins. For Keith, gin is more than just the contents of the bottle; he enjoys learning about the people and stories behind the gins he’s drinking and regularly attends gins festivals, events and meet the maker sessions.

Kirsty’s love of gin took off after a trip to Bombay Sapphire in 2016 when she became fascinated by the process of making spirits. A keen traveller and F1 fan, no trip is complete without a visit to a distillery or brewery where she enjoys hearing the back story and the unique quirks of the brand. Living in Bristol with her husband and two grown up boys, there is great selection of gin offerings to enjoy locally Kirsty has enjoyed sharing her love of gin through her social media channels as TheOrGINiser on line. Kirsty holds a WSET (Wine & Spirit Education Trust) Level 2 Award in Spirits.

Leigh’s passion for gin began when she was in her 30’s and she loves finding new gin distillers to champion. This passion extends to the art of distilling and her dream for her retirement is to have her own little craft gin distillery. She writes a regular gin column for the online magazine arm of Amazon Prime TV’s The Three Drinkers. She has worked in agricultural science for 13 years and when she isn’t working or writing she can be found in her garden with a glass of gin in hand surrounded by her other passion, her small flock of back yard chickens.

Margaret Paige, known as Mags to her friends, first got into gin after discovering a mysterious blue bottle on the shelf of her local bottle shop. Of course that blue bottle was Bombay Sapphire, a gin that’s opened the doors to the world of gin for many. Shortly after, Mag and husband Phil ventured into London booking themselves on a gin blending course at Portobello Road Gin Distillery and, as they say, the rest is history. With an ever growing collection of gins, vodkas, vermouths and more, Mags has continued to explore and seek new, contemporary and classic gins and is a regular attendee at a number of gin events and festivals.

Gin has been Mary Hawes’ tipple of choice for more years than she can remember. An avid gin drinker and collector; like many consumers, Mary first discovered gin thanks to Gordon’s, before the likes of Bombay Sapphire came along. Her appreciation of gin grew thanks to attending Junipalooza and evenings at the old Gin Foundry studio and distillery, refining her palate and knowledge of gin.

Meena Raman has been a gin drinker for for 20 plus years and has enjoyed seeing the growth of gin over the last two decades with Bombay Sapphire, Hendricks and Sipsmiths catching her eye in the early noughties. Over the years, Meena has amassed a large gin collection featuring gins from all over the world as she’s sought to learn more about the industry and brands. Meena has also actively sought out gin experiences, events and enlightened her palate and understanding of gin by visiting some of the best bars in London and across the world.

Murdette first dabbled with gin in her very early twenties, thinking herself “a proper grown up”. By her own admittance, it was fairly mainstream stuff but pleasant enough. Murdette has enjoyed the growth of the gin category and finds it much more exciting than it used to be. Murdette admits trying a new gin is always a delight, from appreciating a beautiful bottle to enjoying the flavours of the gin itself. “I love that there is so much variety – a good gin can really say something special about the place and the people it comes from”.

Neil has lived in Kent his whole life and has enjoyed seeing the gin scene develop over the last few years in his home county. His love for craft gin really started to grow about 9 years ago when tasting Anno Kent Dry Gin in a local farm shop. He has enjoyed running his Instagram account ‘gin_and_life’ over the last few years, as it has grown his love for gin and the industry and allowed him to try vast amounts of gins, meet many great people and visit some brilliant distilleries. Neil has a particular love for Scotland and it is where he says his heart lies. He dreams of a Scottish gin tour, visiting friends, distilleries and spending time in the greatest place on earth. 

Phil lives in Hertfordshire and works full-time in Central London. He would class himself as a Gin Advocate as he wants to spread the love of all things gin, without making his passion a commercial business. His ‘fledgling’ blog The Ginasium is designed around discussion and education on all matters gin, where Twitter and Instagram are too limiting. He admits to liking most spirits, but Gin is his main love. His increase in fondness for gin became a passion at the same time as an increase in watching live rugby, some 8 years ago. Drinking lots of beer every weekend took its toll on his waist, and so he decided to swap to gin, and an obsession was born. Phil holds a WSET (Wine & Spirit Education Trust) Level 2 Award in Spirits and has just sat his WSET Level 3 in Spirits exam.

Sarah’s first encounter with gin was a gin and tonic before a meal with family and friends. In her house, gin was reserved for special occasions. As more gin brands have come to market, Sarah has found herself focused on smaller gin producers and brands, with fascinating stories and great gin. As a The Gin Cooperative Scottish Gin subscriber Sarah says, “The variety has been extraordinary and every month brings a new discovery!”.

Sharron Wilson’s interest in gin was started after she attended a gin festival held in the deep, dark dungeons of Edinburgh where she discovered more about the world of gin. Since then, Sharron has actively promoted the gins she’s discovered under the name of ‘It’s A Scottish Gin Thing’ on her social media channels sharing her adventures as she attends festivals, visits meet the makers pop-ups and more. During lockdown, Sharron established ‘Tasting Times’ with her friend and launched a gin tasting journal that allows consumers to take notes about the gins they’re drinking.

Originally from Yorkshire, Steph has lived in Scotland for over 20 years. Steph has always been a gin drinker and like many others, social media has raised her interest in small batch gins. Her gin collection started when she won a bottle of Scottish gin. Steph kept herself entertained during the pandemic by joining virtual gin tasting events and holding gin cocktail classes for family, friends and colleagues. Steph enjoys travelling, which results in detours to small distilleries and gin bars. Last year, a trip round the NC500 ensured Steph’s gin collection was well stocked.

Stuart has developed an appreciation of spirits including whisky and gin, along with being an avid craft beer drinker. Stuart wanted to expand his knowledge of the world of Scottish Gin and is a subscriber to The Gin Cooperative’s monthly subscription service. With a large extended family and busy career, Stuart enjoys relaxing with friends, family and sharing a G&T or a cold beer.