Paul Schneider at the 2025 World Gin Awards night in London with marketing manager Hope Whitehead.
Gin made by a micro distillery in Thames has been named the world’s best at this year’s World Gin Awards in London.
Coromandel Distilling Company, owned by Paul Schneider and partner Daniela Seuss, won the World’s Best Matured Gin Award for their Awildian Coromandel Mānuka Gin.
The gin combines sugarcane alcohol with Tongan vanilla, Guatemalan cardamom, Madagascan pepper, Seville orange, fresh ginger and 16 additional botanicals.
The spirit is distilled in micro-batches and aged in toasted mānuka wood coated with local, medicinal-grade mānuka honey.
The award judges said Awildian was a “captivating experience”.
“Starting with a nose rich in smoky bacon and abundant juniper. On the palate, it reveals a delightful balance of sweetness and dry finish, complemented by pine flavours and hints of smoked wood.
“The strong juniper character is well-suited to the higher ABV [alcohol by volume], making it a robust choice for gin enthusiasts.”
Awildian was selected for the top honour from products from 42 countries, including Scotland’s The Botanist Gin and Sweden’s Hernö Gin.
It also won a gold medal for its Awildian Coromandel Dry Gin in the Best Classic Gin category.
Meanwhile, Rifters, of Arrowtown, won World’s Best Navy Gin for its Royal Gin.
Judges said the gin presented an “intriguing” combination of mint, eucalyptus and seawater, alongside fresh green herbs and intense citrus notes.
“The nose features gentle baking spices and sweet orange, leading to a complex palate with a long, spiced cardamom finish, creating a lovely flavour journey.”
The 2025 awards marked the second time Coromandel Distilling Company have been recognised in the awards, after a win in 2022 when it was named World’s Best Classic Gin.
Schneider attributed the success to the distillery’s dedication to the craft.
“We are constantly working and imagining new ways to bring gin to life, but needless to say, we’ll be pausing for a drink to celebrate this”, he said.
The name Awildian means “growing wild” or “refusing to be tamed”, because, Scheider said, “we’ve never liked tame”.
Since opening its distillery doors in 2019, Coromandel Distilling Company started exporting to Europe and Fiji, and has collected over 40 awards, including a gold award at the 2025 Berlin International Spirits Awards as a first-time entrant.
It has also opened a tasting room in Thames.
Schneider and Seuss said they never anticipated a career in distilling gin.
Between them, they have five degrees and years of experience in conservation and post-doctoral research.
However, they said their “lifelong passions” formed a foundation for distilling: “A shared love for the natural world and a commitment to preserving the wilderness and unspoiled environments.”
Suess, a hobby beekeeper, began experimenting with honey byproducts, which sparked their enthusiasm for distilling.
The couple were “continually innovating with their next creations” and foraging botanicals locally when possible, and from their own garden.
They said their business model was “intentionally micro” to focus on environmental responsibility and they donate 1% of their revenue to local conservation groups.
The World Gin Awards, presented by TheDrinksReport.com, have been held since 2014 and recognise winners in 12 taste categories, as well as eight design categories.
Entries into each taste category are first judged to select the winner in each country, before all country winners are tasted against each other to identify the Best in each category worldwide.
The winners then compete for the title World’s Best in one of the 12 categories.
Other New Zealand distilleries recognised in the 2025 World Gin Awards