Adelaide palaeontologist & accountant awarded World’s Best Gin, just 3 years after launching

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A South Australian husband-and-wife team who started experimenting with gin recipes at home have just taken out one of the biggest awards in the spirits world, beating international competitors to claim the title of Best Gin at the prestigious 2026 San Francisco World Spirits Competition.

And in a rather perfect twist of timing, Craig and Theresa Williams, the couple behind Two Cats Distillery, are now preparing to open their brand-new Newton tasting room on Saturday 28 November.

It’s an extraordinary achievement for an Adelaide business that made its first batch of gin less than four years ago, particularly considering neither founder originally came from a distilling background.

Craig trained as a palaeontologist before building a career in imagery analytics across the defence and space industries, while Theresa is a CPA-qualified accountant who has worked with some of South Australia’s best-known arts organisations, including Restless Dance Theatre, where she is finance manager.

Their venture into the world of gin began with a shared love of the spirit and a growing fascination with Australia’s craft distilling scene.

“We’ve been gin lovers for many years and, as the Australian craft gin scene began to flourish over the past decade, we found ourselves exploring the incredible diversity of high-quality gins being produced,” the couple explained.

In 2022, they decided to try creating their own recipes. By January 2023, they’d purchased a tiny three-litre test still and a larger 100-litre still, with their first distillation following in March.

Seven months later, Two Cats Distillery officially launched its first gins.

“We’ve always believed in what we were creating, but never in our wildest dreams did we imagine that, less than four years later, we would be standing on a stage in San Francisco accepting one of the world’s most prestigious gin awards.”

Their winning creation, Maine Coon London Dry Gin, was one of just six finalists from around the world at the San Francisco competition, having already secured a Double Gold medal earlier in the year.

Craig and Theresa travelled to San Francisco for the Top Shelf Awards Gala, where they were announced as the overall Best Gin winners.

“When they announced our name, the excitement was incredible, mixed with a real sense of disbelief that we had actually won such a prestigious award.”

The celebrations didn’t end there. At the same ceremony, the couple also collected the Best Gin trophy awarded to their Distiller’s Cat Signature Gin at the 2026 Asia World Spirits Competition, giving the small Adelaide operation two major international titles in one night.

Perhaps most remarkably, the recipe behind their latest world-class success hasn’t changed since the very first attempt.

Maine Coon is a bold London Dry Gin, with juniper taking centre stage, complemented by citrus, spice and distinctive Australian flavours.

“We knew exactly what we wanted to create, and from the first taste of that initial test batch, we knew we had something special. We never felt the need to change it.”

Every batch continues to be handcrafted in small quantities, although the business itself has grown considerably.

By October 2024, demand had become so strong that Craig left his career to work full-time at Two Cats. The couple eventually outgrew their original Athelstone home distillery, relocating production to Newton in 2025.

The new premises have allowed them to expand, with a 300-litre still almost ready to be commissioned and a public tasting room set to welcome its first visitors later this month.

Getting to this point hasn’t been without its challenges, from navigating licensing requirements to sourcing ingredients, bottles and labels, but the couple credits much of their success to the community that has supported them.

“From others in the distilling industry to market organisers, fellow stallholders and the wonderful cat-loving community, we’ve had so many people generously share their advice, encouragement and support.”

With their international recognition continuing to grow, Craig and Theresa are now looking towards expanding distribution into more Australian states, working with additional bars and restaurants, and potentially introducing new products.

For now, their focus is on welcoming South Australians into the new space and sharing the gin that has put their family business on the international stage.

“We’re looking forward to welcoming people who want to taste the world’s best gin where it’s made.”