Canning's - judged blind, in London
The awards.
Two medals, both from competitions where the judges taste without seeing the label. We list them here with their context - what was judged, and what the result meant.
2023
Silver Medal — International Spirits Challenge
The International Spirits Challenge is one of the longest-running spirits competitions, judged by panels of industry professionals. Canning's took Silver in 2023.
2018
Gold Medal — International Wine & Spirit Competition (IWSC)
Blind-tasted in London at the IWSC, one of the oldest and most respected competitions in the world, Canning's took a Gold Medal - and a Silver in the same year's Gin & Tonic judging. Industry press (Verdict) listed it among the 21 best gins in the world on the back of those results.
The gin had been bottled for the first time only two years earlier, in 2016.
Why blind tastings matter
A medal from a blind tasting is not marketing. The judges are given a glass, not a story - whatever reputation a bottle carries stays outside the room.
That is the kind of judgement we choose to be measured by, and we enter new competitions as the gin earns its place in them. When there is a new result, it will be here.
Only three Portuguese gins hold a verified IWSC Gold, and two of them are made on Madeira. The list, with the results to check, is in Award-winning Portuguese gins: the IWSC Gold three.