The Brixton Distillery Company, in the heart of Brixton market, has been awarded a silver medal in this year’s International Wine & Spirits Competition 2022 (IWSC) for its hand-crafted Market Row Botanical Rum – the second prestigious international award since launching in October 2020.
“IWSC medals are globally recognised as a mark of outstanding quality, signaling winning spirits as one of the best in the world,” says Christelle Guibert, CEO Fine Wines & Spirits at the IWSC. “Achieving an IWSC award isn’t easy, but that’s what makes the medal so well respected,” she adds.
Awarded 90 points, Market Row Botanical Rum was described by the judging panel as: “Funky, round and complex nose. On the palate, there is some heat. Well-integrated with a meaty taste, and subtle on the botanicals. Unique.”
Passionately handcrafted in Brixton’s Market Row arcade, Market Row Botanical Rum is a blend of pot still rums from five historic and award-winning distilleries in their own right across Jamaica, The Dominican Republic and Barbados. It is then infused with Kenyan black tea, Nigerian hibiscus and South Asian red rose petals – vibrant, interesting and unique botanicals inspired by Brixton Market and Market Row.
“This award comes on the back of a successful year for Market Row Botanical Rum, which has also seen us secure a listing with Fortnum & Mason and launch for the first time abroad,” says Patrick Venning, Co-Founder, The Brixton Distillery Company. “We’re thrilled to now have two silver international competition medals under our belt, which we figure isn’t bad going for a nearly 18-month-old micro distillery,” he adds.
The IWSC 2022 was a bumper year for entries, with more than 4,000 spirits from over 90 countries (rum entries were up 23% from last year). The 85 judges are world-renowned experts from across the global spirits sector; a mix of buyers, importers, distributors and leading distillers. The competition runs a rigorous tasting process using a ‘double-blind’ method, which means samples are tasted in pre-poured numbered glasses to ensure the judges never see a bottle.
Only seven months after launching, Market Row Botanical Rum was awarded a silver medal in another prestigious global competition – the International Spirits Challenge 2021, which receives 1,800 entries from nearly 70 countries worldwide.
