Broker's Gin Scores Number One with Food & Wine Magazine; Broker's London Dry Gin Wins Spirit of the Year Award.

Business Editors

HOOD RIVER, Ore.--(BUSINESS WIRE)--Dec. 15, 2003

In a blind taste test, the venerable epicurean lifestyle magazine Food & Wine reviewed hundreds of new spirits and chose Broker's London Dry Gin as the 2003 Spirit of the Year in the gin category.

According to spirits reviewer Pete Wells, "The brothers (founders Andy and Martin Dawson) who created Broker's aren't above making fun of their countrymen: Each bottle jauntily wears a bowler-shaped cap in honor of the hats English stockbrokers favor. Broker's is a good, old-fashioned London-style gin: dry as gunpowder, and with bold flavors that are a refreshing contrast to the new wave of mild gins. Some recent brands try to imitate vodka by toning down any eccentricities; Broker's flaunts its differences, showcasing the assertive flavors of bark, roots and berries. Orange and lemon zest freshen things up, and coriander adds its own peppery bite, but the dominant, classically English flavor -- all rise, please, while the band plays 'God Save the Queen' -- is juniper."

Broker's is pouring quite a reputation for itself. It recently earned a "highly recommended four stars" from noted spirits critic F. Paul Pacult, as well as a "superb highly recommended" rating of 90-95 in the July issue of Wine Enthusiast Magazine. Furthermore, Broker's Gin was a double winner in the April 2002 Drinks International Sponsored Cocktail Challenge in London and received Silver Awards at the London International Wine & Spirits Competition and at the Chicago Beverage Tasting Institute in 2001.

"We're jolly proud," said Andy Dawson, co-founder of Broker's Gin Limited. "We worked hard to refine the distinctive high-quality taste of Broker's London Dry Gin and it is rewarding to know that spirits experts recognize our efforts."

Broker's Imports Company in Hood River, Ore., imports Broker's London Dry Gin from England. With a retail price of $20 per 750ml bottle, Broker's London Dry Gin is 94 proof, and distilled from ten natural herbs, spices and fruits imported from three continents. It is this rich blend that gives Broker's London Dry Gin a depth of flavor and premium taste all its own.

First introduced in the U.S. market in 2000, Broker's is an authentic London style gin fashioned after the type of gin English distillers developed in the 19th century. Broker's London Dry Gin was first made available in Europe and is now imported and distributed in the U.S. by Broker's Imports Company, which is part of Hood River Distillers, Inc. For more information about Hood River Distillers and Broker's London Dry Gin, contact the company's sales office at 503-574-3693 or visit www.brokersginusa.com.

Food & Wine magazine (www.foodandwine.com) celebrates all aspects of the epicurean lifestyle, covering the trends, the tables and the talents that define our time's most authentic, exuberant way of life. Providing insider intelligence and actionable information, Food & Wine delivers to an audience of more than 964,000 that's modern, energetic and stylish.

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