The Orkney Gin Company is no stranger to winning awards, but the latest accolade for the family-run business has definitely caught the team by surprise.
Its most recent gin, Aatta, has claimed the ‘World’s Best Design’ and ‘World’s Best Bottle’ titles in 2022’s World Gin Awards, holding off stiff competition from thousands of gins from around the globe.
What’s even more remarkable is the bottle, which features prism-shaped glassware, hand-drawn labelling and a bespoke ‘selkie coin’ laid in the glass stopper, was designed ‘in-house’ by Marketing Manager, Erin Watt, and her father, Orkney Gin Company co-owner, Gary Watt.
“We can’t quite believe it, if I’m being honest,” said Erin. “To be recognised in these awards is absolutely fantastic. Many companies spend huge sums on their bottle designs but we did this one ourselves. All our design work is done by the family and Dad and I worked hard over several months on Aatta.”
The judges were wowed by the beautiful bottle, praising the base which they said was ‘cleverly moulded to look like rocks inside the bottle’. They also highlighted the label and its ‘shimmering mermaid, that can only be viewed by looking through the bottle contents, thanks to the unusual, but very effective, use of metallic reverse printing on the inside, which also aids the deep ocean appearance’.
Erin Watt from Orkney Gin Company
Aatta is the Orkney Gin Company’s eighth and latest release – Aatta means ‘eight’ in Norse and the gin is distilled eight times using eight whole botanicals, including oranges Madagascan vanilla, and rose hips foraged from the family garden in Orkney. As is the case for the entire range, Aatta is distilled, hand-bottled and labelled at the company’s Burray base.
Find out more about the Orkney Gin Company and order online via the official website, and you can also follow the team on Facebook, Twitter and Instagram.