Fylde coast gin distillery buzzing after bees help top tipple award

Lytham Gin’s Bee’s Knees has been crowned winner of the Old Tom category in this year’s Gin Guide Awards.

Hundreds of gins from over 30 countries enter the awards every year. All are blind tasted by 17 judges who are industry experts and unlike other spirit awards, only a handful make the finals.

Having been finalists for the past two years for its Original London Dry Gin, the team at Sandgrown Spirits, the makers of Lytham Gin were absolutely buzzing to be winners of the Old Tom category this year with their Bee’s Knees gin.

Old Tom is a slightly sweeter style of gin dating back to the 18 th century.

Lytham’s Bee’s Knees Old Tom Gin uses a touch of local honey and a hint of lavender to give it the unique flavour that caused the judges to score it so highly, naming it the best Old Tom gin in the world!

Other ingredients include lime, pink peppercorn and cardamom. The company was founded in 2018 by ex-chemistry teacher Sara Dewhurst, and her husband Paul.

Sandgrown Spirits and the family of Lytham Gins have already won several awards including The Guild of Fine Food Great Taste Awards, The Eva’s 2019 New Business Award and a silver medal at the London Spirits competition.

Sara said: “All of our gins are lovingly crafted using botanicals which are foraged locally.

“Each bottle contains a little bit of The Fylde Coast. The honey in our Bee’s Knees is from The Layton Bee Project in Blackpool which I helped harvest late last summer and the lavender is grown in my garden.

“It’s amazing to think that a little distillery using local ingredients has beaten some of the best known brands from all over the world to produce this year’s best Old Tom Gin. I knew my gins were good!

"And this award gives me the confidence to be able to branch out to the rest of the country and promote my gin further afield. Lancashire is gaining a reputation for producing some excellent gins and I’m so proud to be able to play a part.”

Sara is hoping that, coronavirus allowing, Autumn 2020 will see the opening of The Sandgrown Spirits distillery to the public for the first time.