Waterloo Gin just had its best showing yet at the SIP Awards, one of the few major spirits competitions where the judges aren’t industry insiders but ordinary consumers tasting blind. The Hill Country distillery walked away with Platinum for its flagship Waterloo No. 9 Gin, Double Gold for the Prickly Pear & Rose Gin, and Gold for the Barrel Aged Gin, a clean sweep across the brand’s three core expressions.
Waterloo distills everything in Dripping Springs using nine Texas botanicals, including pecan, grapefruit, lavender, and juniper, vapor-infused and cut with limestone-filtered spring water. It’s a gentler, more citrus-forward style than a traditional London Dry, which is part of why it’s built such a following with people who normally claim they don’t like gin. To mark the wins, the distillery sent over three cocktails built around each award-winning bottle, and all three are simple enough to throw together for a backyard crowd without turning the kitchen into a lab.
Check Out These Recipes
The Hill Country Hugo takes the No. 9 Gin and runs it through a Texas version of the Hugo Spritz. Clap 6 to 8 fresh mint leaves between your hands to open them up and drop them into a wine glass full of ice. Add 1½ oz Waterloo No. 9 Gin, ¾ oz elderflower liqueur (St-Germain is the standard), and ½ oz fresh lime juice, using lemon instead if a more traditional Hugo profile is what you’re after. Top with 3 oz chilled Prosecco and 2 oz sparkling water, give it one gentle stir, and finish with a lime wheel and a generous mint sprig. The nine botanicals in the No. 9 lean citrus and herbaceous, which is exactly what makes it work here instead of getting lost under the bubbles.
For something built for a crowd, the Rose Lemonade is about as low-effort as summer cocktails get. Build it straight over ice in a Collins glass: 2 oz Waterloo Prickly Pear & Rose Gin, 4 oz fresh lemonade, topped with chilled soda water and stirred gently. Garnish with a lemon wheel. The prickly pear and rose botanicals give the gin a naturally pink tint, so the drink looks the part with almost no work, which makes it an easy one to batch if you’re pouring for a group.
The Strawberry Basil G&T takes the most effort of the three, but the payoff is worth it. Start with the syrup: combine 1 cup water, 1 cup sugar, 2 to 3 sliced strawberries, and 4 to 6 basil leaves in a pot, bring to a gentle simmer, and stir until the sugar dissolves. Pull it off the heat and let it steep for 15 minutes before straining out the fruit and basil, then let it cool to room temperature. To build the drink, fill a tall glass with ice and add 2 oz Waterloo Barrel Aged Gin, ½ oz of the strawberry basil syrup, and ½ oz fresh lime juice. Top with tonic water, stir with a bar spoon, and garnish with a strawberry and a few basil leaves. The Barrel Aged Gin brings genuine oak character to the glass, closer in spirit to a light whiskey than a typical London Dry, and it holds its own against the fruit and basil rather than disappearing into them.
All three drinks are built to survive a hot Texas evening without falling apart in the glass, which tracks with a brand that’s spent its whole identity on capturing what Hill Country actually tastes like. Waterloo Gin is available at retailers across Texas and through waterloogin.com.
