Tales of the Cocktail Foundation recently held its annual event in New Orleans, announcing the winners of the 2024 New Orleans Spirits Competition (NOSC) and 2024 Spirited Awards.
NOSC received more than 430 entries this year, including whiskey, gin, brandy, baijiu, vodka, rum, and agave spirits. A panel of international judges held a live judging during Tales of the Cocktail, during which time the winners were chosen.
The 2024 NOSC Distillery of the Year award went to Kanosuke Distillery, a Japanese whisky distillery based in Kagoshima Prefecture.
Kanosuke Distillery’s president and founder Yoshitsugu Komasa began his distilling career with the traditional Japanese spirit, shochu, which has been produced by the Komasa family since 1883, under the label Komasa Jyozo.
“I’m fourth generation in the family business. We studied fermantation at university. I joined the family company 2003 and I produced mainly shochu and did sales marketing in Japan and overseas sales. But shochu is almost only drunk by Japanese people. Global people don’t know shochu and what it is. I wanted to make global spirits, and shochu is very local,” Komasa said.
Kanosuke Distillery first began distilling whisky in 2017, but retained the Komasa family heritage through its use of ex-shochu barrels when aging its whisky. These barrels have been used to age shochu for up to 10 years and are then shaved back and recharred to house the base spirit behind Kanosuke Whisky. The shochu cask makes up more than 50 per cent of the blend, with the rest coming from a mixture of ex-bourbon, ex-red wine, and ex- sherry casks.
While the whisky is matured on the coast of the East China Sea, the salinity is not pronounced in the final spirit, as Kanosuke Distillery draws its water from the mountainside.
“The distillery is located very close to the coast, 15 metres from the coast. Sometimes we open up our shutters in front of the beach, so the sea breeze is coming into the cellar with a hint of sea salt, but it’s not strong,” said Komasa.
Recently, drinks accelerator Distill Ventures has become a minority investor in the label, which will allow the distillery to increase is production capacity. Kanosuke Distillery joinsAustralia’s own Starward Whisky and Westward American Single Malt Whiskey in the Distill Ventures Portfolio.
Other NOSC winners include Cutwater Spirits Tequila Blanco, which won Agave Spirit of the Year, Distillery of Modern Art’s Nouveau Gin, awarded Gin of the Year, Shakara Rum, winning Rum of the Year, and Ledaig 10 Year Old, which won World Whisky of the Year. Purity Distillery’s Connoisseur 51 Reserve Organic Vodka and The Community Spirit Vodka tied for Vodka of the Year, and New Orleans put its heritage on show by awarding Speciality Spirit of the Year to an absinthe, Death in the Afternoon Absinthe by Key West Trading Co.
Recognising exceptional design across bottles and branding, NOSC Packaging Award Winners included Best Overall Package winner, Waterford Whiskey Irish Single Malt Whiskey Cuvée, Best Rail Bottle winner, Sazerac Rye, Best Retail Bottle winner, Don Fulano 20 Tequila Añejo, and Best Brand Story winner, Vago Espadîn Mezcal.
2024 Spirited Awards
The 2024 Spirited Awards celebrate beverage professionals, products, and establishments across the spirits and cocktail industry. This year’s awards reflected the conference’s theme, Inspire, and the judging panel chose winners who reflect the spirit of collaborative innovation.
Spirited Awards Overall Chair Charlotte Voisey congratulated the winners at the awards night on 25 July.
“It is with great enormous delight that we announce the winners of the 2024 Spirited Awards. Congratulations to everyone who was honoured tonight. You and your teams are the very embodiment of the Tales 2024 theme, Inspire. We are so proud to recognize, and celebrate your achievements,” she said.
Mexico City’s Handshake Speakeasy took home a number of awards, including Best International Bar Team, World’s Best Cocktail Menu, and International Bartender of the Year for Eric van Beek. Alquímico in Cartagena de Indias, Colombia, was named Best International Cocktail Bar and World’s Best Bar.
For the US categories, Kapri Robinson from Allegory in Washington, D.C. won US Bartender of the Year, Jewel of the South in New Orleans won Best US Bar Team, Yacht Club in Denver, Colorado won Best US Cocktail Bar, and Superbueno in New York City won Best New US Cocktail Bar.
Asia also received its fair share of accolades, with BKK Social Club at Four Seasons Bangkok taking home the title of Best International Hotel Bar, Bar Leone in Hong Kong named Best New International Cocktail Bar, and Hidetsugu Ueno receiving the Helen David Lifetime Achievement Award.