Award-winning Manchester Gin smashed a World Record last weekend for the ‘World’s Biggest Gin Tasting’. The record which previously stood at 796 drinkers* was dwarfed by the 1,856 participants who live streamed Saturday’s gin tasting session.
In addition to bringing together thousands of gin-lovers at a time when being together is so important, the distillery raised £2,778 for Big Change MCR, who are providing direct support to vulnerable homeless people during the pandemic.
The one-hour “Stay Home” tasting experience was live streamed on Manchester Gin’s social channels on Saturday so that gin-lovers from across the nation could tune in to learn about the process and botanicals behind the internationally recognised range.
Founders and Master Distillers, Seb Heeley and Jen Wiggins, who led the tasting were thrilled to have a high-profile drinker join in, TV personality Phillip Schofield, who has shown his support of the World Record attempt to his millions of social media followers.
Jen Wiggins, Manchester Gin founder and Master Distiller said, “Our Stay Home Tastings began as a bit of fun and a way to adapt so that we could still interact with our customers during lockdown. We decided that we would host our gin tastings virtually to help to ward off some boredom and to also bring people together for a night of G&Ts at a time when it’s impossible to actually be together.
“After the overwhelmingly positive response from our first two sell-out tastings, we decided to ask the gin community to join forces from the safety of their homes and attempt to host the World’s Biggest Gin Tasting.
“Unfortunately, staying home to protect our NHS and save lives isn’t a luxury that everyone has. Homelessness is a huge and ongoing issue in Manchester and the homeless community are less able to social distance and protect themselves. To help to our city’s homeless community, we decided to donate 20% of profits from our World Record tasting to Big Change MCR, which helps individuals build a new life away from the streets.
“Seb and I were beyond thrilled to learn that we had in fact beaten the existing World Record and raised £2,778 for charity. Manchester and the rest of the UK are a resilient bunch who, even in these most difficult of times, have come together and raised a fantastic amount of money for charity, all whilst raising a glass and having some much-needed fun.”
As a thank you to those on the frontline, Manchester Gin are also offering 20% off online orders to NHS staff and key workers and have created the “Gin Lockdown Package”, which includes three full size bottles of Manchester Gin, or Manchester Spirit Vodka, along with six paired tonics for just £95.
Free delivery is available across the site on orders over £30.
