By Vanessa Cavasinni, editor Australian Hotelier
The International Wine and Spirits Competition (IWSC) 2016 were held last week, and the winners included spirits by big names like CCA/Beam Suntory and Bacardi-Martini, to boutique brands like Australia’s Archie Rose Distilling Co.
Beam Suntory were one of the biggest winners on the night, taking out three major awards, including the Worldwide Bourbon trophy for Jim Beam Black and Worldwide Whiskey trophy for Knob Creek Rye Whiskey, both of which are distributed in Australia by Coca-Cola Amatil.
“Our products are made with the utmost craftsmanship and care, so we are honoured that their premium quality and exceptional taste have been recognized by such a prestigious blind tasting competition,” said Matt Shattock, Chairman and CEO of Beam Suntory.
“We’re especially proud to see expressions from two of our most iconic brands, Jim Beam Black and Knob Creek Rye, lauded as the ‘best of the best’ in their categories this year. This is a wonderful tribute to Master Distiller Fred Noe and our immensely talented team at our distilleries in Kentucky, all of whom work hard to exceed consumers' expectations every day."
Bacardi-Martini were also recognised in the competition, taking out the London Dry Gin trophy for its ultra-premium offering, Star of Bombay.
Archie Rose Distilling Co, was the only Australian brand on the winners list, recognised for having the Best Packaging Design Range of the Year for its white rye, vodka and dry gin, which also won a trio of Silver Outstanding and Silver Medals for the aforementioned spirits.
“The International Wine & Spirits Competition is extremely highly regarded so to be acknowledged in this way for our core range and to be regarded as the top producer of these spirits in Australia, is unbelievable,” stated Archie Rose founder, Will Edwards.
“Huge shout out to Squad Ink, our design and branding agency who worked alongside us from the very beginning to ensure the packaging had the same level of consideration and attention to detail as our products.”
Other winners available in Australia include The Balvenie DoubleWood 12 Year old, which won Single Malt Scotch Whisky – 15 Years and Under, with Jack Pollock Head of Marketing at William Grant & Sons telling TheShout: "To be recognised by our peers in this way is an incredible achievement. It is testament to the hard work the whole team puts in to crafting our award winning portfolio of premium spirits. As a family run business we take great pride in taking a long term view and fostering a culture of innovation. We have a great portfolio of high quality premium spirits, each offering something unique and interesting.”
Elation Hemp Flavored Vodka is very honored to add our name to the list of these above mentioned large-scale and boutique brands. We are blown away with appreciation for being at the top of such a prestigious and competitive class such as vodka. To trophy in one of, and place medal in both of, the new mixer categories is an honor we do not take lightly.
Thank you to all the judges for recognizing our proof of concept with this innovative new tool for the mixologists’ shed. We graciously thank you for these 5 awards including 1 trophy, 2 golds and 2 silver medals, and we toast to all the fantastic brands that participated in this year’s competition.
We’re simply elated to add this chapter to the book as we continue #MakingHempHistory.