Perth distillery Old Young’s that was started in an old tin shed wins international award

A small Australian gin brand has been named the best in the world at a prestigious international award ceremony. 

Old Young’s, started by James Young, from Perth, took home two gongs at The Icons of Gin competition winning the Craft Producer of the Year and Brand Innovator of the Year categories. 

It is the first time an Australian distillery has won best craft producer and only the second time one has nabbed the award for brand innovator at the competition.  

Old Young’s has come a long way since James started it in 2016 from an old tin shed in Perth’s Swan Valley. 

James said winning the awards was a ‘career bucket list item’ and he feels like ‘a proud father whose child has just won an Oscar’. 

Australian distillery Old Young’s has taken out two awards at The Icons of Gin competition winning both the Craft Producer of the Year and Brand Innovator of the Year categories

‘Winning just one trophy at The Icon of Gin Awards would be a career bucket list item – but two, WOW!’ James said. 

‘When you look at the past winners of these two awards, it’s a who’s who of the world’s most respected brands, selling in dozens of countries, and selling hundreds of thousands of bottles a year.’ 

Seven years ago, James took over a ‘mothballed’ distillery set-up in a 36sqm ‘hotbox’ tin shed and worked tirelessly to create his line of top-quality gins and vodkas by hand.

‘The company started from very humble beginnings. We started in a 6 meter by 6 meter garden shed,’ James previously told the Daily Mail Australia.

Seven years ago, James took over a ‘mothballed’ distillery set up (pictured) in a 36sqm ‘hotbox’ tin shed and worked tirelessly to create his line of top-quality gins and vodkas by hand

An upgrade to a 200 square meter distillery and new tasting room in Gingin, a small town an hour north of Perth, allowed the company to have a greater production capacity 

‘I remember the shed wasn’t insulated and it would get up to 57 degrees inside, so we would step outside into 42 degrees to cool off.’ 

But the humble shed could only make a 5,000 to 6,000 bottles of gin and vodka every month, limiting Old Young’s ability to outstrip customer demands.

An upgrade to a 200 square meter distillery and new tasting room in Gingin, a small town an hour north of Perth, allowed the company to have a greater production capacity.

Since then, Old Young’s has achieved an average growth of 90 per cent per year, brought in $5.3million in revenue in 2022 and sold almost 72,000 bottles. 

Old Young’s has three varieties of gin including the 1829, Six Seasons, and Common as well as four vodka varieties; Pure, Smoked, Cold-Drip Coffee and even Pavlova. 

Since then, Old Young’s has achieved an average growth of 90 per cent per year, brought in $5.3million in revenue in 2022 and selling almost 72,000 bottles

‘Central to winning this award is our signature gin, Old Young’s 1829 Gin – I’m like a proud father whose child has just won an Oscar!’ James said. 

‘The gin’s base is Tuscan juniper berries, with the Swan Valley and surrounds offering some of the finest botanicals I’ve seen, which give 1829 its balance between bright citrus characters and savoury spice.’ 

Old Young’s is no stranger to winning awards as the label previously won back-to-back Champion Australian Distiller titles at the Australian Distilled Spirit Awards in 2017 and 2018 – a feat that has only been achieved once since.

The recent win comes just after James launched a share offer for customers to become part-owners in his business. 

The recent win comes just after James launched a share offer for customers to become part-owners in his business

He plans on using the money to expand the business even further so the gins can be stocked in bars and bottles shops around the country and to buy equipment to handle over 250,000 bottles each year. 

James has another line of spirits under Old Young’s named Gingin Gin, the bottle is a love letter to the town of Gingin where the liquor is made.

The businessowner said: ‘People have said to me, ‘I have this idea of making gin in GinGin’, but guess what? I finally did it’. 

Mr Young describes the liquor as a deep love letter for the town of GinGin, a place he holds close to his heart since childhood, when he would pass the town during regular road trips with his parents.

James has another line of spirits under Old Young’s named Gingin Gin, the bottle is a love letter to the town of Gingin where the liquor is made

‘The town has always been at the back of my mind, I could never shake it off’, he said.

His love affair continued not only into the name, but the liquor itself as the gin boasts three local ingredients from the town.

‘I wanted to make sure the gin included local produce from the town, so it has olive leaf, lemon and orange peel from GinGin’, he said.

‘But it’s a fusion really, of exotic flavours such as almond, liquorice, green tea. I wanted the gin to be to be contemporary classic by giving a classic drink a more contemporary style’.

It was finally on the 24th recipe that Mr Young was satisfied that the gin gave its namesake the justice it deserved.

But the love affair with the small town of GinGin doesn’t stop at the liquor’s name, as Mr Young said the idea had been on his mind for 10 years, stored as a beloved passion project.

‘I was never just going to bang out Gingin Gin, so I’ve taken everything I’ve learnt from the last few years in the industry and I’ve put it into this project,’ he said.

‘I knew when I got the chance to do this project, that it had to be gin made in Gingin’. The bottle itself has the coordinates of Gingin around it,’ he said.