Bajan-made gin captures Gold at Gin Masters

Barbados has earned international recognition for its distilling industry after Stade’s West Indies Rum Distillery’s Citadelle Bajan won a Gold Medal at the 2026 Gin Masters.

Organised by The Spirits Business, the Gin Masters is regarded as one of the world’s leading spirits tasting competitions.

Citadelle Bajan is a 100 per cent Barbadian-made gin crafted from a molasses base and infused with grapefruit, hibiscus, bay leaf and lemongrass.

Managing Director of Stade’s West Indies Rum Distillery Andrew Hassell said in a statement: “Barbados has an extraordinary distilling culture, and Citadelle Bajan is one more expression of what can be created here.”

He added: “This recognition belongs to the people behind it, the teams who worked together and brought a Barbadian point of view to a French gin brand.”

The wider Citadelle Gin brand has earned more than 180 international awards, including Spirit and Gin of the Year at the 2024 Bartender Spirits Awards and a Master medal, the highest distinction, at the 2025 Gin Masters.

Founded in 1893, West Indies Rum Distillery has been producing Barbadian rum from its base at Brighton, St Michael, before its acquisition by French drinks maker Maison Ferrand in March 2017. The distillery also produces Planteray Rum and Stade’s Rum.

Citadelle Gin, which originated in France, recently expanded to Barbados with the launch of Citadelle Bajan.

Barbados has been quietly developing a gin industry as an extension of the island’s 323-year-old rum tradition. Stade’s Citadelle Gin joins producers such as Perkins & Sons out of the family-run Hopewell Distillery, with techniques that echo rum-making but are redirected towards spirits accented with Caribbean botanicals. 

Both gin brands lean into flavours such as grapefruit, which was first developed in Barbados in the mid-1700s. 

(LG)