More than 60 gins were presented by 36 exhibitors from Croatia, Italy, Serbia, the Netherlands, Norway and Austria at the fourth international GinIstra festival, held at the Old Tobacco Factory in Rovinj on 17 and 18 October 2025. The festival was preceded by a judging of gins across the categories gin liqueur, sloe gin, Old Tom gin, navy gin, distilled gin and London Dry gin, and the Best Gin in Show title was won by the distillery s778 Heritage from the island of Brac for its s778 London Dry Gin, which also received a special Design Masterpiece Award for the outstanding design of its bottle, decorated with motifs of Brac stone.
We hoped for the design award, because we had already received recognition for the look of the bottle. This champion’s title took us by surprise, but it also made us immensely proud. The first drops of gin flowed in our distillery in 2023, and with this recognition came confirmation that the love and passion I poured into this product are definitely the real thing, said Larisa Hrzic, owner of the s778 Heritage distillery. The whole Ginistra festival is the real thing too, judging by the photographs credited to STUDIO11 – photography/video/design.
21.10.2025.
