Podcast LSC - London Spirits Competition

The London Spirits Competition doesn't only ask whether a spirit tastes good. It asks whether it has earned a place on the shelf.

ŽivaGin® took Gold there in 2025 and Silver this year, so I was glad when Ankita Okate of Beverage Trade Network invited me to talk about what goes into the bottle.

We covered:

→ the cursed miller who gave our town, Črnomelj ("black mill"), its name, and Blackmill Distillery its own

→ why we macerate in Slovenian acacia and distil in a wooden pot still we designed and built ourselves

→ a recipe four years in the making with Jack Mayo: no added flavourings or essences, just local botanicals — birch bark, chamomile, mulberry, juniper and beeswax from Carniolan bees

For 11 years, Svarog Sistemi has built custom distilling equipment for distilleries in Scotland, England and Ireland. Blackmill is where we take the risks we'd never take on a client's project.

Medals are half the job. The other half is earning a place behind the bar. We're in it for the long run.

Watch the full conversation 👇

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=DcIEadgPpj8

Thank you, Ankita Okate, London Spirits Competition and Beverage Trade Network.