Gin Awards 2024 Icons Spotlight - People
08.03.24
With the winners of each category announced, the number of exceptional products on display proved this to be another competitive year for entrants at the World Gin Awards.
The Icons of Gin award is given to those in the industry to recognise their exceptional work in brand presentation and or creating an award-winning product.
BRAND & PACKAGING DESIGN AGENCY - WINNERKNOCKOUT
Knockout has proven to be an excellent communicator of ideas and a chameleon of different designs and styles when it comes to branding. The brand has received multiple awards for packaging design and has worked with several globally recognised brands.BRAND AMBASSADOR - WINNERLAURA PEARCE, NORTH POINT DISTILLERY
As the first official employee of North Point Distillery, Laura has been as the face of the business since the beginning. With her knowledge of the industry and experience living in the Highlands, she understands the brand’s identity on every level.BRAND AMBASSADOR – HIGHLY COMMENDEDJAMES MAY, ASIAN PARSNIP
A gin lover turned enthusiast, James was inspired to create his own brand after he became co-owner of The Royal Oak pub in Wiltshire. Between filming television shows, he has focused his efforts in producing a gin that reflects his love of both travel and multicultural cuisine. COMMUNICATOR - WINNERVANESSA PIROMALLO, THAT'S THE SPIRIT
Vanessa has played a leading role in establishing her gin news and recipe website as one of the most read in all of Italy. She has acted as consultant for several brands on how best to publicise their product beyond the local region. Vanessa has also been writing about the industry for more than a decade.DISTILLERY MANAGER - WINNERHEATHER RICKER, NORTH POINT DISTILLERY
With a decade in management experience and a passion for creative marketing, Heather has been a key player in innovating North Point Distillery’s social media, logistics, marketing and sales operations.DISTILLERY MANAGER - HIGHLY COMMENDEDKIRRA DALEY, BEACHTREE DISTILLING CO
Born into a family of farmers, Kirra was introduced to the world of grappa, grape-stomping and homegrown produce from an early age. These childhood experiences brought her into the fitness, health and wellness industry before managing the internationally award-winning distillery, Beachtree Distilling Co.INNOVATION MANAGER - WINNERLAURENT MARCHAL AND BREGT LANGENDRIES, EXPLOGINS
Friends for more than 15 years, Laurent and Bregt combined their industry knowledge of chemistry and IT to create Explogins. The two have found several ways to market their brand with innovative concepts like interactive mobile games and creative merchandise.MASTER DISTILLER/ MASTER BLENDER - WINNERJON HILLGREN, HERNÖ GIN
Jon’s love of gin started during his time working in the 1990s London bar scene. His dream of building a distillery came to fruition when he and his wife purchased a farm on the coast of Sweden. It was there Jon experimented with flavour profiles and types of casks before producing his now award-winning product, Hernö Gin.MASTER DISTILLER/ MASTER BLENDER - HIGHLY COMMENDEDCHRISTIAN KROGSTAD, COBBLESTONE BRAND
Christian’s passion for creating new flavours and innovative concepts started when he founded Aviation American gin in 2006. From a homebrewing hobbyist to a master distiller, Christian has made a name for himself in the Portland spirits industry producing spirits in house and showing a dedication to ethically sourcing ingredients.
HAKON HOVDENAK, HOVDENAK DISTILLERY
Hakon started his career in the alcohol industry homebrewing in his garage at home. From there on he spent years perfecting the recipe for Stuðlaberg gin, which is still used to this day. Hakon’s gin has since found acclaim and popularity even beyond his homestead of Iceland.PRODUCTION TEAM - WINNERTHE TEAM, FOUR PILLARS DISTILLERY
Four Pillars Distillery’s employees are dedicated keeping the production process efficient as well as offering quality customer experiences like gin tastings, maker sessions, cocktail workshops and running tailor-made events for any occasion.PRODUCTION TEAM - HIGHLY COMMENDEDTHE TEAM, NORTH POINT DISTILLERY
The team at North Point Distillery are solely focused on producing small, premium batches of quality Scottish spirits, with an emphasis on sustainability practices. Starting with a team of just four, the distillery has expanded to 14 and has already been lauded for both the quality of product and professionalism of its staff members.SALES TEAM - WINNERTHE TEAM, ASIAN PARSNIP
The sales team at Asian Parsnip have played a fundamental role in ensuring the brand’s success. Partnering James May’s name with their marketing skills, they managed to sell out more than 1000 bottles in just 24 hours.SUSTAINABILITY OFFICER - WINNERMICHELLE HALL, FOUR PILLARS DISTILLERY
Michelle has been with Four Pillars Distillery since its beginnings operating in a Yarra Valley farm shed. The company has since moved to Healesville and Michelle has acted as sustainability officer ever since. Michelle has focused on making sure that despite the company’s growth, that sustainable practices are constantly being developed in order to make the distillery run smoothly and stay successful.VISITOR ATTRACTION MANAGER - WINNERSCOTT GAULD, FOUR PILLARS DISTILLERY
Scott has played a key role in the distillery’s success. By managing the presentation of the distillery at the base level, he has helped create informative, memorable and entertaining experiences during the distillery tours, tastings and masterclasses.VISITOR ATTRACTION MANAGER - HIGHLY COMMENDEDSTEEN LERCHE-JENSEN, THE HOPE DISTILLERY
Acting as both founder and visitor attraction manager, Steen bares a lot of responsibility for both the production and presentation of the distillery and takes pride in doing so. Steen runs classes on making gin while he recounts insightful stories of his time as an enthusiast and as a distiller.The full results for the World Gin Awards 2024 can be found
here.
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