The International Wine and Spirits Competition (IWSC) has named Four Pillars as the International Gin Producer of the Year for the second consecutive year.
The IWSC is widely regarded as the drinks industry Oscars, being the world’s longest-running, largest and most prestigious spirits competition with more than 4000 entries from distilleries across the globe.
Co-Founder and Distiller Cameron Mackenzie was understandably delighted with the back-to-back wins.
“After the year we’ve had and the exhaustion we have felt, I couldn’t quite believe it when they called out our name,” he said.
“I was wearing my full kilt for good luck, same as I did last year in London, and I don’t think I will take it off all day, maybe all week.
“This is a triumph for strength over adversity, for professionalism and passion in the face of what sometimes in 2020 seemed insurmountable odds. This is a victory for every single person in the Four Pillars world but most particularly for everyone at Healesville who has faced so much uncertainty and difficulty this year but has never stopped putting in the hard yards.
“I am now off for a socially distanced drink or two. Who’d have thought that phrase would be uttered a year ago.”
The award caps a strong showing for Four Pillars at this year’s IWSC, with both the Bloody Shiraz Gin and Rare Dry Gin winning Gold Medals at the competition.
Four Pillars wants to congratulate the three other finalists in the International Gin Producer of the Year category; Kangaroo Island Spirits, Herno from Sweden, and the Zamora Company, owner of Martin Miller’s.
IWSC Head of Tastings, Pip Mortimer said: “Producer trophies are the pinnacle of achievement. They reward the overall portfolio, ethos and achievement of companies that enter the IWSC.”
Four Pillars was founded in 2013 and now produces around 600,000 bottles of gin per year, including the recently launched Olive Leaf Gin.