A GIN which is distilled part-time by an Ardrossan couple, alongside their full-time jobs, is the toast of the town after winning a prestigious award.

Inventor’s Gin, which is distilled in what is believed to be ‘Scotland’s smallest distillery’, walked away with a silver medal in the London Spirit Awards in the Best Gin category.

Competing against giant companies such as Gordon’s and Hendrick’s, it was the gin distilled in an Ardrossan garage which came closer to the top prize.

The gin was launched in 2019 by couple Steven and Andrea Lockhart, and Andrea told about the moment she heard they had won the silver medal.

She said: “We actually got the award through the middle of the day, I was sitting at my desk going, ‘Oh my god, we’ve actually just won an award’.

“I couldn’t believe it, considering we were up there with spirits from all over the world – the States, Canada, Mauritius, Thailand...”

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The gin was judged by a panel of over 50 judges, who considered its taste, quality packaging and value for money.

Not only is the gin distilled locally, it uses ingredients from the area as well.

Andrea told us of how it uses two botanicals from the fields of Ardrossan, and is filtered through heather from the Fairlie Moors and nettles from Kelburn.

She continued: “We don’t know anyone else that’s doing what we do.

“Everybody else, even small manufacturers, may be doing it to their own recipe, but the majority of them go to a distillery somewhere and get a manufacturing slot. Whereas we’re doing all this from home.”

The gin is described as warm and spicy, using chillies and pink peppercorns which are smoked using Steven’s homemade smoker, using a recycled whisky barrel.

Inventor’s Gin is available to buy online from inventorsgin.com/s/shop or from ‘The Jar’ in Troon and the Auchengree Farm shop.