A KENDAL business had a night to remember at a prestigious award ceremony.

Ten products from Lakeland Artisan were awarded two, two stars and eight one stars at the Great Taste Awards.

Managing director Geoff Monkman said: “We are thrilled to have received 10 awards this year and highly delighted that our latest product Fell Tonic Water has been recognised.

"Fell Tonic is one of four Mawson’s drinks that received awards this year and combined with our newly launched Ready to drinks cans, the brand is going from strength to strength.”

More than 14,000 products were put through the competition’s rigorous blind judging process.

4,078 products were awarded a Great Taste one star – ‘food and drink that delivers fantastic flavour’, 1,237 were awarded a Great Taste two star – ‘above and beyond delicious, and 241 were awarded a Great Taste three star – ‘extraordinarily tasty food and drink’.

The two-star awards, which less than 10 per cent of entries achieved, were for:

  • Lakeland Liqueurs, Spiced Fruit Rum Liqueur – “Christmas pudding in a glass. Loads of steeped fruit and brooding spice. Naughty but very very nice. We absolutely adored this. A real treat”. 
  • Cumbrian Delights, Damson Extra Jam – ”Deep and dark, garnet red. There is a vivacious flavour to this, both sweet and sour and bursting with that distinctive flavour of damsons. A proper treat. Well-made and showing off this fabulous seasonal fruit very well. The set is just right. Good quality fruit treated well.” 

The one-star awards “A food that delivers fantastic flavour.” were for:

  • Mawson’s, Fell Tonic Water – ”A very pretty pale amber tonic with good effervescence, we could see this drink standing clearly on its own as a non-alcoholic option with ice and cucumber or as a very successful mixer.” 
  • Mawson’s, Sarsaparilla – ”The flavour notes are beautifully balanced, and the flavours hold well once diluted. It would make a great marinade added to slow cooked ham or pork.” 
  • Mawson’s, Dandelion & Burdock – ”A lovely deep rich coloured cordial with a good diluting consistency. We liked the natural fragrance of the aroma which followed through to the flavour. This cordial had a lot going on with the flavour and we thought it was very complex. We appreciated the natural ingredients.” 
  • Mawson’s, Ginger – “Golden cordial with the distinct warming aroma of ginger. There is a good mouthfeel, releasing very good flavour with all the classic characteristics of root ginger.” 
  • Lakeland Liqueurs, Damson Whisky Liqueur – ”A lovely colour, we enjoyed the smokiness of the whisky, which works very well with the sourness of the fruit and the deep sweetness of the liqueur. A lovely balance, and an enjoyable sip.” 
  • Lakeland Liqueurs, Ginger & Lime Whisky Liqueur – ”Citrus and ginger come through clearly with smoky hints from the whisky. The finish is particularly good, with a lovely lingering lime note fading gently away with the whisky gently carrying it on.” 
  • Lakeland Liqueurs, Strawberry & Sarsaparilla Gin Liqueur – ”An intriguing liqueur with dusty herbal notes on the nose. We loved the rich sweetness of the palate cutting through the medicinal notes. There's a veritable sophistication here, we loved that aniseed note from the liquorice root in particular. Clever and ridiculously enjoyable.” 
  • Cumbrian Delights, Beetroot Chutney - “A very well-balanced product with a final gentle warmth from the peppers. This has even converted a beetroot-phobe.” 

This year, the judging took place over 90 days across two judging locations (Dorset and London) with a panel of more than 500 judges. This year’s line-up saw food and drink products submitted from a staggering 110 different countries across the world.