4 August 2026
The award-winning Portuguese gins with an IWSC Gold
Only three Portuguese gins hold a verified Gold from the International Wine & Spirit Competition, the contest judged blind in London since 1969: Azor in 2017, Canning's in 2018 and Balancal in 2024. Two of the three are distilled on Madeira.
We make one of them. Each Gold below traces to the IWSC's own results. For who makes gin in Portugal and where, see the Portuguese gin guide.
Portugal's three IWSC Golds
The International Wine & Spirit Competition has judged spirits blind in London since 1969. Three Portuguese gins have taken its Gold: Azor Gin Reserva in 2017, Canning's in 2018, and Balancal's Wine Barrel Rested Gin in 2024.
Azor is distilled at Pataias on the mainland, built around Azorean botanicals. Canning's and Balancal are both made on Madeira. That is the verified list at Gold: three gins, three years, one competition.
Why two of the three are from Madeira
Madeira is a small island, and it holds two of Portugal's three IWSC Gold gins. Canning's is distilled in Ribeira Brava on the south coast; Balancal a few kilometres along the same coast. Both draw on the island rather than carrying a recipe to it.
Canning's takes its botanicals from Madeira: mountain juniper, plants native to the Laurissilva laurel forest, passion fruit and pitanga, with pure mountain water. What that makes, and why it tastes the way it does, is on the Madeira gin page.
Canning's 2018 Gold, and what came with it
Canning's took its IWSC Gold in 2018, blind-tasted in London, two years after the gin was first bottled in 2016. The same year it took a Silver in the competition's Gin & Tonic judging, and the trade press listed it among the 21 best gins in the world.
It is distilled in small batches at Ribeira Brava by C.N.A. Companhia Nova de Aguardente, at 40%, on the accumulated experience of four generations of distillers. In 2023 it added a Silver at the International Spirits Challenge. Both medals, with their records, are on the awards page.
How these awards are verified
A Gold appears here only if the IWSC's own results record it. That leaves out unverifiable brand-page claims, and it is why the list is short: a Gold at a competition this old, judged blind, is rare. Sources last checked August 2026, and corrections are welcome.
We counted only Gold, and only at the IWSC. Other Portuguese gins hold strong records at other competitions, and the fuller picture shifts depending on whether you count total medals or the single highest one. That is deliberate: the IWSC is the oldest of these competitions, and Gold its top result.
So which is the most awarded Portuguese gin?
Ask which Portuguese gins have won Gold at the IWSC and the answer is three, two of them from one small island. Canning's is the 2018 Gold.
What we make, and why it tastes of the place it comes from, is on the Madeira gin page.