Celebrate Australia's best spirits at the Tasting Australia Spirit Awards Party.
More than 60 of Australia’s finest distillers took part in Tasting Australia’s Spirit Awards presented by Master Cask with Southern Wild Distillery of Tasmania being named the country’s best.
The awards – which attracted more than 160 entries - kicked off the final weekend of the 10-day eating and drinking festival. The winners were announced at the Tasting Pavilion in Town Square tonight.
Spirits across Australia were celebrated at the inaugural awards, with Australian distillers recognised for their ingenuity and energy.
Over two days, gin, whisky, vodka, rum, brandy and liqueurs were judged by an expert panel made up of Australia’s most reputable industry leaders. Tasting Australia ambassador, wine critic and commentator Nick Stock led the judging process, along with the Godfather of Australian Whisky – Bill Lark (Lark’s Distillery in Tasmania), Seb Costello of Bad Frankie (Melbourne), Brooke Hayman of Whisky & Alement (Melbourne), founder of the Odd Whisky Coy – Graham Wright, South Australian Marcus Motteram (founder of Hains & Co), boutique wine and spirits distributor Mark Reginato, and Ollie Margan (co-owner of Maybe Mae) among others.
“This is the best competition of its type anywhere in the world,” Bill Lark said at the end of two days of judging.
“The quality of the judging experience, the organization and the integrity is something that Tasting Australia should be really proud of.”
The Tasting Australia Spirit Awards attracted more than 160 entries from 63 exhibitors from around the country. Spirits were carefully judged with the top exhibits for each category chosen after a consensus within the judging panel.
“The level of engagement and support from industry instilled on the judges a huge sense of responsibility. It’s our aim to make these awards the best of their kind in Australia and among the very best on the world stage,” Nick Stock said.
“The award winning spirits are extremely high quality examples of their type. The judges gave a huge amount of consideration to each and every award and I think that’s reflected in the quality of the entries that have been recognised tonight.
“It’s no secret that this is the most exciting moment in the history of Australian distilling and the timing of these inaugural awards couldn’t be better.”
View all entrants and medallists here