For Scottish Food and Drink Fortnight 2018 we ran our tasty ‘Tipples & Nibbles’ competition (try saying that again after a few gins). To enter, McQueen fans submitted their gin and food pairings by matching our famous distilled flavour gins with dishes of their choosing. And we have a winner…

…actually, we have 6 winners!

Main Prize Winner
Congratulations to our main prize winner. Evelyn Johnston was selected at random, but certainly had a fantastic suggestion; pairing McQueen Spiced Chocolate Orange Gin with her delicious-sounding homemade lemon tart, Italian meringue, and blood orange & yoghurt ice cream. Yummm.

Runner-Up Prizes – The Best of the Rest
Even though we selected the main prize winner at random, we wanted to pick out and reward some of your delicious pairing suggestions.

We received such an amazing response, and it was really inspiring to see the creative ways you matched our gins to your favourite foods. So, we’ve made a 6-course menu using the gin and food pairings that are top of our list to try at home in the McQueen family kitchen!

Enjoy the menu everyone, and congratulations to our runners-up who will each receive 2 tickets to our McQueen Gin Distillery Tour:

The 6-Course Menu of McQueen Gin and Food Pairings

Appetiser
Gin: McQueen Sweet Citrus Gin
Pairing: Scottish Smoked Salmon Canapés with Dill & Capers
Credit to: Grace Rowlands Babcock (Facebook)

Starter
Gin: McQueen Smokey Chilli Gin
Pairing: Mouth-watering Baked Apple Slices w/ Crisp Pork Crackling
Credit to: Hannah Gibbons (@hannahgibbz – Instagram)

Fish Course
Gin: McQueen Super Premium Dry Gin
Pairing: Fresh & Clean Salad Niçoise
Credit to: Leah (@leahtheminx – Twitter)

Main Course
Gin: McQueen Mocha Gin
Pairing: Intense Chilli con Carne w/ Ground Coffee & Dark Chocolate
Credit to: Nick Harris (@mrnickharris – Twitter)

Dessert
Gin: McQueen Spiced Chocolate Orange Gin
Pairing: Homemade Lemon Tart with Italian Meringue and Blood Orange & Yoghurt Ice Cream
Credit to: Evelyn Johnston (Facebook)

To Finish
Gin: McQueen Chocolate Mint Gin
Pairing: After-dinner Mint Chocolate Macarons
Credit to: Laney G Briody (Facebook)

Claiming Prizes:
To all the McQueen fans listed on the menu above, congratulations and thank you for your inventive suggestions. We will contact you directly via social media with details of your prize!

And should you feel so inclined, we’d absolutely love to see some photographs of you all enjoying your winning dishes accompanied by your favourite McQueen Gins (or even just the dish and gin if you’re shy!).