news
AUSTRALIAN ICONS OF WHISKY ANNOUNCED IN ADELAIDE
The second-ever Australian Icons of Whisky Awards dinner was held in Adelaide in late August, recognising the nation’s top people, bars, producers and retailers for their contribution to the whisky industry. A new addition to the Australian Icons of Whisky Awards this year was the Whisky Bars category. Big winners here were The Baxter Inn (taking home Bar of the Year), with Websters Bar the Highly Commended. Speakeasy Group won Bar Group of the Year and Grain Bar took out the Hotel Bar of the Year category. Patrick Maguire, Head Distiller at Sullivans Cove, was inducted into the global Icons of Whisky Hall of Fame, one of the whisky world’s top honours. Great Southern Distilling Company took home the award for Distiller of the Year; Belgrove Distillery was named Craft Producer of the Year, and New World Whisky Distillery (AKA Starward) the Brand Innovator of the Year. Hellyers Road Distillery’s Mark Littler took home the award for Master Distiller/Master Blender of the Year and Distillery Manager of the Year was awarded to John Rochfort from McLaren Vale Distillery. On the brand side of the equation, Mark Hickey from Spirits Platform was named Scotch Whisky Brand Ambassador of the Year, Paul Slater from Starward the World Whisky Brand Ambassador of the Year, Martin Lynch (Teeling) the Irish Whiskey Brand Ambassador of the Year, and Daniele Pirotta (Wild Turkey) the American Whiskey Brand Ambassador of the Year.
SCAPEGRACE WORLD’S BEST New Zealand gin Scapegrace Gold was named best London Dry Gin in the world at the recent International Wine and Spirit Competition (IWSC). Described by a veteran judge as “staggeringly good”, Scapegrace beat more than 600 other entries to take out the overall title in the category.
8 BARS&clubs
BRIX OPENS Brix Distillers, a craft rum distillery and bar, has opened in the inner-city Sydney suburb of Surry Hills. The fully operational distillery and rum ageing facility features a 1200-litre copper still. Overseen by head distiller Shane Casey, Brix has launched with a core range of three rums: Brix White, Gold and Spiced.
OPIHR CROWNS AUSTRALIAN COCKTAIL COMPETITION WINNER Loreta Kwong from Joe Taylor in Victoria took out this year’s Australian final of the Opihr World Adventure Cocktail competition. Thanks to her drink ‘The Alchemist’ – inspired by Paulo Coelo’s novel of the same name, which explores the concept that knowledge from travel is more valuable than gold – Kwong eventually emerged the best of the seven finalists. Kwong’s winning cocktail combined a spicy blend of ginger, Australian honey and turmeric syrup (hand made from local ingredients) that highlighted the unique blend of botanicals found in Opihr gin. Second place went to Claudia Morgan (The Dominion League, WA) for her ‘The Magic Pudding’, while third place was awarded to Jared Huk (The Howlin’ Wolf, NSW) for his creation ‘The Land of Milk and Honey’.
FOUR PILLARS X HERNÖ Four Pillars and Swedish distillery Hernö released a special collaboration gin in late August. Dry Island Gin is a bright and lifted gin with beautiful citrus notes and a floral cut-grass character. A Swedish version (distilled at Hernö’s headquarters in the village of Dala) will be released in 2019.
