Travel industry stalwart dominates World Spirit Awards with gin championing Aussie landscapes

Travel industry stalwart dominates World Spirit Awards with gin championing Aussie landscapes

Gindu, a craft distillery from the Macedon Ranges, founded only 18 months ago, has won two Double Gold Awards and will represent Australia as one of only three finalists in the Best Gin Class.

What does this have to do with travel, you may ask? The company was co-founded by none other than David ‘Thommo’ Thomson – head of sales and global business development from Adventure Tours Australia (pictured in featured image).

Alongside fellow founder Matt Grainger, Thomson founded Gindu during the height of the global pandemic, championing uniquely Australian botanicals to inspire a sense of pride and encourage people to explore Australia’s beautiful landscapes.

Gindu recently took home two Double Golds, one of the highest accolades a spirit can achieve, at the San Francisco World Spirits Competition.

Over 5,000 spirits entered and this year 11 Australian gins were awarded a Double Gold, with Gindu claiming two. The Double Gold Award is only awarded if every judge on the judging panel awards the spirit a Gold Medal.

The judges have started to release the finalists in the categories and Gindu’s Coastal Gin is one of three gins in the running for Best Gin up against Beefeater Monday’s Gin (UK) and GINDOME MerMaid Navy (Estonia).

The judging panel described Gindu’s Coastal Gin as: “Juniper and citrus dominate on the nose. On the palate sweet, with a slightly earthy note and a bit of wet stone minerality. Long lingering finish with a noticeable pepperiness.”

Launched in November 2021, A Coastal Gin is made with Juniper and only Australian native botanicals from both iconic and lesser-known destinations around Australia’s coastline.

“To be recognised at this level for a product you make is truly humbling,”  Grainger said.

“We’re just great mates who call Australia home and love discovering, travelling and experiencing everything it has to offer.”

Gindu is making a splash on the Australian craft distilling industry having won Best In Class at the 2021 Australian Gin Awards with their Australian Dry and now two Double Golds in San Francisco.

“On a global stage, to see an Australian distillery as a finalist in the Best Gin Class will have a huge impact on our industry and tourism” Grainger continued.

“Promoting Australia locally and to the world is exactly why we exist.”

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