The World’s Best Gin—According To The MicroLiquor Spirit Awards

Quattro Gatti, an award-winning expression of Italian craft gin.

Photo illustration: Brad Japhe

As implied by the name, the MicroLiquor Spirit Awards are a competition designed specifically for small brands. In fact, they are one of very few organizations dedicated exclusively to craft expressions. The only companies eligible for entry are those selling less than 50,000 cases annually. To put that in perspective, Tito’s–the top-selling vodka in the US–offloads roughly 12 million cases each year.

Needless to say, this merit of distinction can be a pivotal one for emerging upstarts. MLSA evaluates entries across all major categories of spirit. But right now we’re going to take a closer at what won the coveted “Triple Gold” medal in the realm of gin. The prize-winning bottle was Quattro Gatti, a terroir-driven gin from Umbria, Italy. Let’s uncork the cap from its Classico expression to understand more about what makes its contents so special…

Quattro Gatti (meaning, “four cats” in Italian) is the brainchild of the Mordant family, Australian expats who long ago established residency high above Lago Trasimeno in the heart of Umbria. The countryside here is speckled with vineyards, olive groves, and Etruscan ruins stretching back millennia. Onto this undulating landscape they imported onto their property a 100-liter Carl still from Germany and began running locally-sourced botanicals through its copper pot.

Rather than overloading the distillate with an array of ingredients, master distiller Angus Mordant opted for a less-is-more approach–under ten botanicals in total. Through a full year of trials, he realized that fresh Italian juniper enables both a full body and a rounded flavor profile. It stands apart from the dried Balkan-derived berries more typically used in mass-market gins. Further separation is achieved through the introduction of Mediterranean citrus fruit as well as peperoncino. Together they give the final product a soulful slice of bitterness to tackle any underlying astringency, as well as a tickle of spice in the finish.

In other words, it’s easy to understand what the judges at MLSA found so appealing about the unique offering. This is a product that is poised to anchor a dirty martini, but actually could stand alone, on the rocks, as a sipping gin. At 86-proof, it is crisp and refreshing in composition – tonalities that can be elongated with nothing more than a splash of especially spritzy soda, as opposed to tonic.

Quattro Gatti Gin Classico initially came to market back in 2022. It is on shelves today retailing for around $35 a bottle. And it is now joined by an additional expression: Quattro Gatti Olive Grove. This one is imbued with olive leaf, olives, and olive oil from ancient Umbrian groves. It brandishes a slightly more savory delivery and replaces subtle spice with briny depth. It is retailing in the US at a slightly higher rate of $44 a bottle.

Earlier this year the brand was named the official gin of the 2026 Venice Biennale. Its green-labeled bottles could be seen prominently across the sprawling grounds of the iconic art festival, as well as in bustling cafes and luxury hotels filled with festival-goers. So its star is surely on the rise. And we can expect to perhaps see some other distinctly Umbrian-inspired variations of the base liquid expanding into American markets sometime soon. In the meantime, if you’re on the lookout for a genuine craft gin that’s both uniquely expressive and as easy as a Mediterranean afternoon, the judges at MicroLiquor Spirit Awards have got an art piece just for you.