Silver for Sule Skerry Gin at The Gin Guide Awards - The Negroni Gin Everyone’s Talking About
- 3 days ago
- 3 min read
There are gins that work in a Negroni… and then there are gins that completely transform one.
We are beyond excited to share that Sule Skerry Gin has won Silver at The Gin Guide Awards in the Negroni category — making it the highest-awarded Scottish gin in the category.
For a small, family-run distillery on the windswept Orkney Islands, this feels enormous.
Because Sule Skerry Gin was created to be bold. Velvety. Curious. Full of warmth and atmosphere. A gin with enough character to shine through cocktails rather than disappear into them.
And in a Negroni? It absolutely sings.
The Gin Guide Awards are recognised as one of the world’s largest and most respected independent gin competitions, judged through rigorous blind tastings by industry experts from across the spirits industry.
To see a tiny Orkney distillery recognised on this stage - and alongside some of the world’s best-known names - is incredibly special for our whole team.
Inspired by Orkney’s Wild Western Edge
Sule Skerry Gin is inspired by the remote westernmost point of Orkney - a skerry, supporting a lonely lighthouse, which stands against Atlantic storms, wrapped in selkie folklore, seabirds, salt spray, and stories.
Everything about the gin was designed to capture that atmosphere.
Hand-crafted in small batches, the spirit follows a New-Western style recipe rooted in island heritage while bringing something genuinely different to the glass.
Its flavour profile takes inspiration from traditional craft cola - layered with orange zest, cinnamon, cardamom, nutmeg, and softly caramelised brightness - while still proudly keeping juniper at the centre.
The result is a gin that feels:
Bright and citrus-led at first sip
Velvety and warming through the palate
Spiced, rounded, and lingering with roots on the finish
Comforting and nostalgic while still refined and premium
It’s curious in the best possible way. The sort of gin that makes people stop mid-sip and ask:"What is that flavour?"
And that complexity is exactly what makes it such an exceptional cocktail gin.
The Sule Skerry Negroni Recipe
The citrus botanicals lift the bitterness of a Negroni beautifully. The warming roots echo the deep herbal notes of the vermouth. And the soft vanilla and caramelised character create an almost silky texture that makes the cocktail feel rich, smooth, and luxurious.
If you’d like to try the award-winning combination yourself, here's how to make it:
Sule Skerry Negroni
Ingredients
25ml Sule Skerry Gin
25ml Campari
25ml Sweet Vermouth
Orange peel garnish
Optional twist: Add a tiny pinch of orange zest or a short cinnamon stick for extra warmth.
Method
Fill a mixing glass with ice.
Add Sule Skerry Gin, Campari, and sweet vermouth.
Stir until beautifully chilled and silky.
Strain over fresh ice in a rocks glass.
Express an orange peel over the top and garnish.
The result is rich, caramelised, citrus-bright, and incredibly smooth - with Sule Skerry Gin bringing complexity and depth that lingers long after the final sip.
Loved Long Before the Awards
Before this latest recognition, Sule Skerry Gin had already become something of a cult favourite.
Originally created for the famous Craft Gin Club, it quickly became most loved gin they had featured in their Gin of the Month box recently - something that gave us an early feeling we might have created something truly special.
Since then, the gin has gone on to receive:
An exceptional 90 points in the famous International Wine and Spirits Competition (IWSC)
The Gin Guide Awards — Winner, Best Contemporary Gin
The Gin Guide Awards — Winner, Best Design & Branding
Silver in the Negroni category at The Gin Guide Awards 2026 - the highest-awarded Scottish gin in the category
Taste the Spirit of Orkney
Sule Skerry Gin has always been about more than awards.
It’s about stories carried for hundreds of years. Lighthouse beams through winter storms. Folklore shared over cocktails long into the evening.
But we’d be lying if we said this recognition didn’t feel incredibly special.
To everyone who has supported Sule Skerry Gin already — thank you.
And to everyone discovering it for the first time through this award: welcome to Orkney.
Your next Negroni might never taste the same again.
Discover Sule Skerry Gin at Orkney Gin Company.
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