Ulverston distillery kicks off 2024 with two new awards for vodka and gin 

An Ulverston distillery has started the year with two new awards at the World Drinks Awards 2024.

Shed One’s new Quince Botanical Vodka and Ulverston 23 Gin both received Bronze accolades at the global awards, which were revealed earlier this month at a judging session in London.

It marks a first award for Shed One’s new range of flavoured botanical vodkas, which only came into production in late 2023. A part of every sale of Quince Vodka is donated back to Ford Park charity.

Speaking about this year’s winners, Veronika Karlova, chair of judges for the World Vodka Awards, said: “Today’s approach to vodka production has taken a new turn. Forget the traditional perception of vodka as tasteless and boring – it’s anything but plain and flavourless. Producers really pay attention to ingredients and focus on how to retain the character of raw material in vodka.

“All World Vodka Awards country winners this year impressed judges by their quality and taste. 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.”

Shed One’s World Gin Awards bronze winner - Ulverston 23 Gin - was launched following the success of its predecessor a year earlier, and was unveiled at the 2023 Westmorland Show. As with the original, Ulverston 23 was created using the highest quality botanicals foraged from local hedgerows and beauty spots within just a mile radius of the distillery.

Speaking after trying Ulverston 23 at The Westmorland Show, British Chef and Saturday Kitchen presenter, Matt Tebbutt said it “was super mild and the sort of gin you could drink on its own or with tonic.”

The ethos behind Ulverston 23 is using the best of what can be sourced locally and in season, which is why some of the botanicals in this batch differ from the original Ulverston Gin.

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.’’