World Whiskies Awards & Icons of Whisky Australia, 2024

The World Whiskies Awards and the Icons of Whisky winners (in the Rest of World category) have been unveiled for 2024.  There are some familiar names and, pleasingly, some new names and faces as a number of new distilleries bring their whiskies to the world’s stage… 

The World Whiskies Awards has grown to such an extent that, several years ago now, it was split into various regions to do justice to the huge number of distilleries, producers, bottlers, and individuals who contribute to the many sectors of the whisk(e)y industry.  While some regions naturally pick themselves (e.g. Scotland, USA, Ireland), the catch-all region of Rest of World was created to capture the likes of Australia, Japan, India, Taiwan, Canada, New Zealand, Israel, China, and the many European countries producing whisky (e.g. Belgium, Germany, France, Denmark, the Netherlands, Switzerland, etc) and more.  In February this year, the 2024 winners in the Rest of World categories were announced for both the World Whiskies Awards and the Icons of Whisky Awards.  Being an Aussie and someone who’s written a lot about Australian whisky, I trust you’ll indulge us if we highlight the Australian winners for 2024… 

Icons of Whisky badges

Icons of Whisky, 2024
(Rest of World category – Australian winners)

Brand Ambassador, Scotch Whisky – Seamus Carroll, The Whisky Club

Brand Ambassador, World Whisky – Ally Bhana, Sullivans Cove Distillery

Brand Innovator – Sullivans Cove Distillery

Communicator – Andrew Derbidge, Whisky & Wisdom

Craft Producer – Callington Mill Distillery

Distillery Manager – Heather Tillott, Sullivans Cove Distillery

Master Distiller / Master Blender – Ian Thorn, The Gospel Whiskey

Sales Team – Sullivans Cove Distillery

Visitor Attraction Manager – Michelle Burns, The Aisling Distillery

Visitor Attraction – Callington Mill Distillery

 

World Whiskies Awards, 2024
(Rest of World category – Australian winners)

A large number of Australian distilleries and producers submitted their whiskies for judging, and a number of expressions / bottlings were recognised with Bronze, Silver, and Gold medals.  Importantly, an impressive number of whiskies were announced as being overall Category Winners – a huge achievement, particularly noting the huge volume of entries and the large number of different categories.  The Australian Category Winners were as follows:

Backwoods Distilling Co, Shiraz Cask, 46% – Rye, No Age Statement

Coastal Stone, Xplore, 40% – Blended, No Age Statement

Eden, Folklore – Double Oak, 50.4% – Small Batch Single Malt, No Age Statement

Hellyers Road Distillery, The American Oak 16 Years Old, 60.7% – Single Cask Single Malt, 13 to 20 years

Hellyers Road Distillery, The American Oak 21 Years Old – Cask 2157.05, 62.4% – Single Cask Single Malt 21 Years & Over

Hellyers Road Distillery, The Dark Harmony, 52% – Blended Limited Release, No Age Statement

Hellyers Road Distillery, The Voyager Cask, 57% – Small Batch Single Malt, 13 to 20 Years

Hillwood Whisky, Peated Sherry Cask 150, 60.5% – Single Cask Single Malt, No Age Statement

Iniquity, Talamara, 40% – Single Malt, 12 Years & Under

Lark, Fresh IPA Cask, 46% – Single Malt, No Age Statement

Lark, Symphony No. 1, 40.2% – Blended Malt, No Age Statement

Sullivans Cove, American Oak 2nd Fill TD0452, 50% – Single Cask Single Malt, 12 Years & Under

The Gospel, Legacy Rye, 56% – Rye, 12 Years & Under

Transportation Whiskey, The Journey Single Cask Cask Strength, 57.6% – Pot Still, No Age Statement

Waubs Harbour Distillery, Waubs Original, 43% – Small Batch Single Malt, 12 Years & Under

Whipper Snapper, Rye, 48% – Single Cask Single Rye, No Age Statement

– – – – – –

If you’d like to see the full list of medals (Bronze, Silver, Gold) and the many Australian distilleries and their releases that entered the awards but aren’t listed above, you’ll find it here.   Of course, it’s worth stating that this is an awards program that distilleries choose to enter and submit their whiskies to, and so not every Australian distillery or producer is necessarily represented.  For more information on this and how whisky awards programs work, you might like to read our recent article, “Whisky Awards – Who really wins?

Congratulations to all involved; to the many individuals behind the scenes that work tirelessly and often anonymously in the production of great Australian whiskies, and to the Australian whisky industry as a whole.

Cheers,
AD

PS…you might also like our article Which is the best Australian whisky?

 

The Whisky Ark, Sydney

Exciting news for Sydney whisky enthusiasts with the opening of the city’s second bricks-and-mortar retail shop dedicated purely to whisky.  Thirteen years after World of Whisky established itself in Double Bay back in 2010, The Whisky Ark has now set up shop in the Queen Victoria Building in the heart of the CBD.

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Whisky art, Cryptowhisky, and NFT whisky

Whisky art is nothing new, and whether it’s a beautiful photograph of a distillery in the setting sun, or an oil painting of a copper pot still in the stillhouse, there are some incredible pieces of art out there that any whisky enthusiast would be happy to hang on their wall.  But whisky art took an unexpected twist recently, with the category moving into the NFT space.   WTF is NFT?  Well, it’s almost as controversial as NAS, but easily twice as confusing.  For whisky has now entered the cryptocurrency arena:  NFT stands for Non-Fungible Token.  Still need help?  You’re not alone, so let’s dive in.  Just keep an open mind…..you’ll need it.

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Johnnie Walker – A long stride

Johnnie Walker – it’s the world’s biggest selling blended Scotch whisky.  Is it unreasonable to assume that every whisky drinker has, at some stage or another, notched up a JW on their list of conquests?

For so many years, Johnnie Walker’s iconic Red Label and Black Label expressions were staples in nearly every bar and whisky drinker’s cupboard.  Gold Label and Blue Label came along, also eventually joined by Green Label.

With interest in the category booming, Johnnie Walker has continued to innovate and expand, developing and releasing an impressive range of limited editions, or adding to the core range.   There are now multiple variations in the Green Label range; ditto the Black Label; and the old Gold Label evolved into two new expressions, the Gold Label Reserve (a no-age-statement), and the 18yo (which was badged as Platinum Label for a few years).  Needless to say, the striding man is never standing still.  And speaking of a long stride….

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Free the whisky

Most whisky enthusiasts around the globe have heard of the dramas and dilemmas taking place in British Columbia, Canada, where the government conducted a raid on a whisky bar and confiscated over 240 bottles of single malt whisky.  It’s time to free the whisky.

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Chivas ‘The Blend’ Experience

Have you ever tried your hand at blending? Think you’ve got what it takes to come up with a delicious whisky?   Would you like to be a Master Blender for a day? The Blend by Chivas is giving you that very opportunity!

Chivas ‘The Blend’ Experience is a fantastic event to not just learn a bit about Scotch whisky and the story behind one of Scotland’s most famous blends, but to also have a crack at blending and putting together your own blended Scotch. Best of all, you get to take home a 200ml bottle of your own creation at the end of the session!

Chivas ‘The Blend’ Experience is coming to four cities across Australia over the next five months and whisky drinkers are able to sign up and register for their own session. Full details on this a little lower below but, first of all, what’s involved?

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Icons of Whisky 2020 – The Australian Awards

The Icons of Whisky 2020, Australia awards were held in Sydney on October 21st this year.   The Icons of Whisky is an awards program convened by Whisky Magazine and its international agents to recognise the people, places, and products that strive for excellence in the whisk(e)y industry.

Originating in the UK back in 2007, the awards have since grown to recognise the local players in many international markets, with countries/regions such as America, India, Australia, Scotland, Ireland, and Rest of the World now holding annual awards.  The winners in each category in their local awards go forward to be part of the Global Icons of Whisky Awards, held in London.

The Australian awards were a fun (if slightly boisterous) affair, with the room filled with distillers, distributors, brand ambassadors, bartenders, hospitality managers, whisky tourism and visitor attraction personnel, accounts managers, sales teams and, yes, even the occasional whisky writer.  James Buntin, a long-time whisky ambassador who’s worked with many of the brands over the years, was an appropriate MC for the evening.

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Archie Rose Six Malt New Make – the giant stirs

As the Australian whisky revival and renaissance marches on, there are now countless highlights and spikes on the radar.   Australian whiskies winning awards; new distilleries being established; new releases being launched…the scene now generates its own continuously scrolling newsfeed.

As for the Australian distillers and distilleries themselves, the field has grown to the point where there is a marked split between the craft players and the big guys that now run genuinely industrial and commercial operations.

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Johnnie Walker Black Label Sherry Edition

The Johnnie Walker stable of whiskies continues to grow and expand, as the latest edition to the Black Label, the “Sherry Edition” demonstrates.   Whisky & Wisdom has covered off most of the new releases and expressions in recent times (see links below), but whether Johnnie Walker is your cup of tea or not, you can’t accuse the world’s biggest selling brand of Scotch whisky of standing still.  I guess that’s why Johnnie Walker is the striding gent.

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