DUNDEE’S first distillery in almost 200 years has won a contract as the sole supplier of House of Commons gin with a special edition of its award-winning spirit.

Verdant Spirits came out top from a shortlist of five for the prestigious contract for its Verdant Dry Gin, which was voted Scottish Gin of the Year at the inaugural Scottish Gin Awards.

The company will supply the spirit and deliver training and tastings for the Commons team and members. Judges were said to be “blown away by the whole package” after a blind tasting and presentation of bespoke packaging replacing the original graphics with a House of Commons treatment developed with Dundee design agency Avian.

Andrew Mackenzie, founder and managing director at Verdant, said: “We spent two years researching and finessing the perfect dry gin and we firmly believe in our product, but it still felt fantastic to win out in the taste test. To really show our commitment to the process, we didn’t want to simply add a logo or brand to the bottle, we wanted to create a truly co-branded product.”

Avian’s managing director, Scott McCallum, added: “By creating an entirely new label and specialised packaging solely for the House of Commons, we retained the integrity of both the Verdant Spirits brand and the historic House of Commons identity, whilst also creating shelf appeal. This balance of both brands in one product really resonated with the judging panel.”