Ballarat's own gin distillers Kilderkin have won four medals at the Australian Distilled Spirits Awards, including the gold medal for best liqueur.
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The awards are part of the Royal Melbourne Show, run by the Royal Agricultural Society, and drew entrants from across Australia.
Kilderkin's Chris Pratt said the company's Larrikin Bramble and Apple Pie Gin liqueur won them a gold medal ahead of over 60 other competing liqueurs.
The liqueur comes with a Northern English and Scottish history, based on a recipe from Mr Pratt's family history, concocted by his Granny Harriet.
"That was my grandma; we actually knew her as Granny Wallace," Mr Pratt says.
"She grew up in the north of England and then moved to Scotland where I was. She was, in the tradition of that era an amazing baker of pies, both savoury and fruit pies. She made this delicious - what we call brambles, which are blackberries - and apple pie.
"I used to talk about it and my partner and fellow distiller Rebecca decided to recreate it according to my description. We recognise memories may change, and as we point out to people we added the alcohol, but it is certainly based on my memory of eating her pies and what it tasted like."
Kilderkin also entered its 'Lola' gin, created expressly for the Lola restaurant at the Provincial in Ballarat, winning a silver medal for contemporary gin; while its Larrikin Buccaneer gin won silver in the high-alcohol 'Navy' category.
Their Larrikin Backyard Limoncello Gin Liqueur won a bronze in the fruit liqueur section. Mr Pratt says the company's shift to new premises this year has given them some inspiration.
"Some of them are tweaked from earlier recipes," Mr Pratt says.
"We tweak them a bit when we get some feedback. But I think it's great recognition for us. We would always like to get the gold medals. We don't always get them, but to get a medal for each one of those four categories is a great achievement, really."
