SPIRITS
SULLIVANS COVE WINS AGAIN Sullivans Cove Distillery is celebrating once again after collecting another global award, winning the World’s Best Single Cask Single Malt title for the second year running at the World Whiskies Awards. The 10-year-old French Oak expression, TD0217, claimed the prestigious award and follows the 16-year-old American Oak expression winning the same award last year. Sullivans Cove won the World’s Best Single Malt in 2014, making it the only distillery in the world to ever win World’s Best Single Cask Single Malt twice, and bringing its total of World’s Best awards to three overall. Managing Director Adam Sable said: “This is one of the younger whiskies that we’ve bottled at 10 years old, and it just goes to show that the whiskies we’re bottling now are as good as anything we’ve ever released.” About half of the winning cask was packaged in 200ml miniature bottles and sold as part of a gift pack released to Sullivans Cove’s mailing list members last year, with only 147 full-sized bottles made available. “There’ll be some pretty happy people out there. I love the idea that it went into the gift pack in the 200ml bottles, because it gives more people a chance to taste it. Huge congratulations have to go to our whole team, including our tasting panel, who check every cask at regular intervals to determine when and if they’re worthy of a Sullivans Cove label, and the optimal time for bottling,” Sable added. Australia’s position as a growing force in the international whisky market was further cemented at the awards with Dan Murphy’s picking up the award for World’s Best Supermarket and John Rochford of McLaren Vale Distillery winning World’s Best Distillery Manager.
THE 2019 AUSTRALIAN DISTILLED SPIRITS AWARDS WINNERS The winners of the 2019 Australian Distilled Spirits Awards (ADSA) have been revealed in an event hosted by The Royal Agricultural Society of Victoria (RASV), with Hellyers Road named as the Champion Australian Distiller. Having won the Champion Whisky in 2018 for its 10-Year-Old Slightly Peated Malt, Hellyers Road took the next step this year, winning Champion Australian Distiller, with Master Distiller and General Manager Mark Littler (pictured right collecting the award) understandably delighted with the win. “Our whiskies are beginning to unveil their quality with age and these awards are certainly testimony to this fact,” Littler said. “Some of our oldest single malts are now approaching 17 years which places them amongst the oldest aged statement spirits available from an Australian distillery. “These whiskies are not only attracting attention from within Australia but also overseas. In the last six months alone we have shipped around one dozen single cask Master Series whiskies to various regions of Asia and the demand continues to escalate. “Our oldest core range whisky is 15 years and this product too is being courted by distributors in Europe, Asia and the United States. It’s a very exciting time for Hellyers Road and the recognition stemming from these awards will only serve to further the brand’s growing reputation,” he added. Hellyers Road won two gold and one silver medal for the three whiskies it entered into the awards. Other trophy winners included: Champion Whisky – Fountain of Youth – Fleurieu Distillery; Champion Gin – Ounce Gin – Bold – Imperial Measures Distilling; Champion Vodka – Citrus Vodka – Alchemy Distillers Pty Ltd; Champion Brandy – Apple Brandy – Adelaide Hills Distillery; Champion Liqueur – Marionette Dry Cassis – Marionette Liqueur; Champion Australian Micro Batch Spirit – Honey Old Tom Whisky Barrel Aged Gin – Anther Experimental Distillation; and Champion Small Batch Spirit – Batch Zero Gin – South Coast Distillery.
BLADNOCH APPOINTS NEW MASTER DISTILLER The Australian-owned Scotch whisky distillery Bladnoch has appointed a new Master Distiller following the departure of Ian MacMillan in January. Dr Nick Savage (pictured above) joins the distillery bringing with him an impressive track record through the industry, which David Prior the Australian owner and CEO of Bladnoch said he was excited to bring into the business. “It’s a great privilege to welcome Nick Savage to the Bladnoch business,” Prior said. “He has an impressive track record with a number of significant whisky companies and brands, most recently as Master Distiller for The Macallan. “His youthful, positive and energetic approach will add great value to our team and business, as will his technical and operational skills. With the Visitor Centre opening in mid-June and Nick joining the business we are excited to undertake the final phase in bringing this amazing Lowland single malt distillery back to the whisky world.” Dr Savage was most recently the Master Distiller for The Macallan where he led the Whisky Mastery team and played a key role during the major launch of the brand’s new distillery and visitor experience in June 2018. Prior to this, and after being awarded his PhD in engineering, he commenced at Diageo as Technical Lead in Cask Maturation, he then spent time in the Scottish Lowlands working with William Grant & Sons in brewing and distilling. Speaking about his decision to join the Bladnoch team, Dr Savage said: “The vision and ambition shown by David Prior and the team at Bladnoch Distillery, together with the phenomenal efforts since 2015 with the re-generation of the historical site, played a huge part in my decision to join the Bladnoch business. “The opportunity also allows me a new challenge in Single Malt Lowland Scotch Whisky from a 200-year-old distillery. Combined with the passion and drive that the Bladnoch team have for the ultimate quality, I’m extremely excited to be a part of the amazing future of the brand.” Prior bought the Bladnoch Distillery in 2015 and worked with MacMillan to get the distillery up and running after it had closed down the previous year. They went on to launch Pure Scot and a range of Single Malt whiskies. MacMillan left the business in a full-time capacity in January, but he continues to offer support and advice to the distillery.
NATIONAL LIQUOR NEWS MAY 2019 | 13
