A GIN-SPIRATIONAL team of drinks-makers from Port Glasgow are in good spirits after landing two top awards.

Inverclyde Gin, which is the brainchild of The Start-Up Drinks Lab, has been recognised with two national accolades for the locally-bottled beverage.

The team based at Kelburn Business park received the gold award in the 'Premium Gin' category in The Gin Masters 2021 awards.

They also scooped bronze in the International Wine & Spirits competition for the product, hailed as 'a wonderfully aromatic nose of juniper and green earthy pine that blends with lemon fruits in the mouth'.

Manager Karis Johnston said: "It's a big achievement for us after what has been a tough start to the beginning of our product.

"Launching a gin during a time when bars were closed and life wasn't normal was hard, but this proves that the people of Inverclyde have got behind us.

"It's great exposure for us too, we've been included in winners blog posts that go out all over the UK.

"Hopefully it'll spread the word about what we are doing here in Port Glasgow."

The company are now producing their fourth batch of gin and have teamed up with businesses across Inverclyde - including their latest outlet, Carriages in Kilmacolm, who have created their own 'Inverclyde Spritz' cocktail.

Office manager Calvin McKenna says the team are also working on some exciting upcoming projects.

He told the Tele: "We've got a lot of really exciting things coming up in the next few months which we're excited to reveal.

"The awards are a reflection of the effort that goes into each bottle - our staff hand-finish each product, down to actually hand tying the small rope around the bottle neck.

"We've had a real positive uptake of local businesses and bars stocking our product and we're really grateful for the interest and support.

"We've missed a lot of tourism this past year, but hopefully now things are getting back to some sort of normality we're going to be able to do more to put us on the map."