Welsh gin shortlisted to be crowned best in the world

Nation.Cymru staff

A matured gin made by an award-winning Welsh coastal distillery is in the running to be named the world’s best.

Palo Cortado Cask-Aged Gin, made at the company’s distillery near Cardigan, has been shortlisted for the World’s Best Matured Gin, placing it in the world’s top five. The gin has already won gold and the Wales country title in the World Gin Awards 2026.

The world’s best accolade will be announced at the World Gin Awards Gala Dinner in London on June 2.

Priced at £45 and available at inthewelshwind.co.uk , the Palo Cortado Cask-Aged Gin is bottled at 43% ABV and presented in the distillery’s distinctive 70cl bottle. It’s a marriage of the distillery’s multi-award-winning Signature Style Gin, rested in Palo Cortado sherry barrels.

The result is a complex, layered spirit that carries notes of almonds, dried stone fruit and wood spice from the cask, woven through the warmth of the original gin’s botanical profile.

Palo Cortado, one of the rarest and most prized styles of sherry, is made in the Jerez region of southern Spain. It occupies an unusual position between Amontillado and Oloroso, oxidative and nutty, but with an elegant structure that makes it an exceptional cask for maturation.

In The Welsh Wind chose it specifically for the complexity it draws out of the Signature Style’s botanicals and the result has now been recognised by an international panel of judges as among the world’s finest matured gins.

Ellen Wakelam, In The Welsh Wind co-founder, said: “Palo Cortado is not a cask you choose lightly. It’s one of the rarest styles of sherry in the world and it does something quite specific to our Signature Style.

“It pulls out a depth and warmth that the gin already has in it and frames it in a way you wouldn’t expect. We’ve been incredibly proud of this gin since the first batch and to have that recognised at this level, and to be shortlisted for World’s Best, is something we’re genuinely thrilled about.”

Palo Cortado Cask-Aged Gin has a distinguished award history, having won Best Welsh Matured at the World Gin Awards 2022 and was awarded the highest level Master designation by The Spirits Business Gin Masters in 2021.