After announcing the winners of IWSC 2017 (International Wine & Spirit Competition), we can only conclude that Portuguese Gin is on its way. This year, 7 Portuguese Gins wer featured in the different categories, in a total of 9 medals awarded.
Gotik came out as one of the big winners, being awarded the Silver medal (graded above 80) in the London Dry Gin category and Bronze in the Gin & Tonic category. In Gin & Tonic, Portugal won another Bronze with Cobalto 17. Among the London Dry Gins, there were three prize winners. Alongside Gotik were Gin 13 with a  Silver medal and Opivm was awarded Bronze (graded above 75).
In the Packaging category, Gin Tinto and Opivm were awarded Gold and Bronze respectively.
Saving the best till last, Azor Reserva won the Gold medal for Aged Gins. This means that Azor Reserva obtained over 90 points in a contest with a jury of at least 7 judges and further laboratory testing. In the same category, Sharish Laurinius received the Silver medal. A great result for the Portuguese hosts who bring ever more excitement to the ever more competitive Portuguese Gin market, and who predict an even happier 2018.

António Cuco, the man behind Sharish Gin, never stops. After Pêra Rocha do Oeste, in two litre bottles for the commemoration of its first anniversary, and Dark Sky, comes the new Sharish Laurinius, in a limited edition of 3883 bottles.
Maybe “new” isn’t the right word to describe Laurinius as it is a Gin that has been aged for a year in Oak Barrels where once lived the Aguardentes of the Lourinhã Cooperative Adega.
It was during a visit to the distillery by the managers of the Louriana Xo that the idea popped up of producing a Gin in partnership. The chosen base was Sharish Gin Original, but substituting “Esmolfe” Apples with Rocha Pears, and the addition of Bay Leaf, characteristic of the Lourinhã region. The Gin is then left to rest in the Oak Barrels for not less than a year, which gives it an amber colour, the distinctive mark of aged Gins, and softens the aromas, giving them warmer notes (we’ll let you know more once we’ve tasted it). No date has yet been announced for its launch, but it will likely be in March.