According to awards judge and Massey University food science professor Joanne Hort, to scoop double gold “the product has to be excellent”. “A double gold means that all the judges felt it was exceptional, and it would have to have scored high in all aspects of flavour, mouthfeel, balance and finish.” Hort also said it wasn’t surprising to see such a small-scale operation topple the gin giants. “It shows that a lot of hard work, care and attention and craftsmanship has gone into the choice of ingredients, the product sensory concept itself and setting up the process to achieve that.”