A Welsh gin has made history this week as the UK’s first ever gin to receive protected status. On Monday (April 7) Dovey Native Botanical Gin, made by Dyfi Distillery in the village of Corris, Gwynedd, was given ‘protected geographical indication’ (PGI) status by the UK government.
The UK Geographical Indication (UKGI) status scheme is intended to recognise food and drink with ‘distinctive qualities and regional heritage’. UKGI status ensures that only authentic items that meet strict standards and geographical requirements can be marketed as the product.
And now Dovey Native Botanical Gin has that protected status. So, why is this gin made in a tiny distillery in Wales’ Dyfi Valley so special?
Each bottle of Dovey Native Botanical Gin is produced from a minimum of 17 botanicals sourced from the nearby valley – which is designated a UNESCO World Biosphere Reserve due to its biodiversity and rare plants and animals. Set up in 2015 by brothers Danny and Pete Cameron (the former is a master blender and the latter a master distiller), the distillery is currently the only one in the Dyfi Valley. And it makes full use of that environment – ‘we wanted to capture our surroundings in a bottle,’ said Pete.
Currently only one of the distillery’s gins meets the new UKGI criteria, the ‘Pollination’. Pollination apparently took three years’ worth of trials to create, and it’s won several awards including ‘best gin’ at the 2017 Great British Food Awards.
Dovey Native Botanical Gin wasn’t the only UK foodstuff to be given UKGI status this week. Pembrokeshire native oysters, Pembrokeshire rock oysters and Welsh heather honey were all granted protection, joining a list that already includes iconic products like Scotch whisky, Cornish pasties and Welsh leeks.
Keen to try the UK’s first ever gin with protected status? You can find Pollination on the Dyfi Valley website (over 18s only, obvs).
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