Global spirits business and independent family distillers William Grant & Sons has just been named ‘Distiller of the Year’, by the International Spirits Challenge (ISC).
The company was also awarded two further accolades at the event in London – ‘Scotch Producer of the Year’ and ‘Liqueurs Producer of the Year’.
In the individual product honours, the Single Malt Scotch 12 Years Old and Under Trophy went to The Balvenie Single Barrel First Fill Aged 12 Years, Glenfiddich Malt Master was awarded the Single Malt Scotch No Age Statement Trophy and Drambuie scooped the Liqueur Trophy. The Balvenie DCS Compendium Chapter 1 won the Design and Packaging New Product Range Trophy.
The company won a total of 23 gold medals including awards for Glenfiddich, The Balvenie, House of Hazelwood, Kininvie, Monkey Shoulder, Tullamore D.E.W. and Drambuie, as well as a total of 34 silver and eight bronze medals.
“We are absolutely delighted at being named ‘Distiller of the Year’ and 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,” said Simon Hunt, CEO of William Grant & Sons.
“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.”
The International Spirits Challenge is founded on a rigorous and independent judging process, receiving more than 1,300 entries from nearly 70 countries worldwide.
William Grant & Sons won the following at the ISC 2016:
- Distiller of the Year
- Scotch Producer of the Year
- Liqueur Producer of the Year
- Liqueur Trophy: Drambuie
- Distillers Single Malt under 12 years & under Trophy: The Balvenie Single Barrel First Fill 12yo
- Single Malt No Age Statement trophy: Glenfiddich Malt Master
Gold medals were awarded to:
- Glenfiddich 12yo
- Glenfiddich 18yo
- Glenfiddich 21yo
- Glenfiddich 30yo
- Glenfiddich 40yo
- Glenfiddich Age of Discovery Madeira
- Glenfiddich Malt Master
- Glenfiddich Rare Oak 25yo
- Glenfiddich Ultimate
- House of Hazelwood 18yo
- House of Hazelwood 21yo
- House of Hazelwood 25yo
- Kininvie 17yo
- Monkey Shoulder
- The Balvenie DoubleWood 12yo
- The Balvenie DoubleWood 17yo
- The Balvenie Forty
- The Balvenie PortWood aged 21
- The Balvenie Single Barrel first fill Aged 12
- The Balvenie Single Barrel Sherry Cask 15
- The Balvenie Thirty
- Tullamore Dew 14yo