The winners of Icons of Whisky Awards Australia 2020 were announced on Monday 21 October 2019 at the Icons Dinner held in Sydney at Rydges World Square.
Alex Dahlenburg, Bartender of the Year – Photo © Cocktails & Bars
Alex Dahlenburg of Mjølner in Sydney was awarded Bartender of the Year and Ian Atherton of Spirits Platform was the Hall of Fame inductee.
The Icons of Whisky Awards are nominated and voted for by the industry. This is the third year that Australia has had its own awards and the first time the Icons of Whisky Australia awards were held in Sydney.
The event was hosted by whisky industry expert James Buntin, aka The Whisky Ambassador and attended by nominees and Australian whisky representatives from all around Australia. The winners will automatically go on to compete in London at the 2020’s World Best in May 2020.
Here is the full list of the winners and highly commended Icons of Whisky Australia 2020 in the order they were presented.
Icons of Whisky Australia 2020
Distillery Manager of the Year:
Winner: Ian Schmidt – Tin Shed distillery
Highly Commended: Heather Tillott – Sullivan’s Cove
Master Distiller / Blender of the Year:
Winner: Jimmy McKeown – Whipper Snapper Distillery
Highly Commended: Mark Littler – Hellyer’s Road
Distiller of the Year:
Winner: Sullivan’s Cove
Highly Commended: New World Distillery
Visitor Attraction of the Year:
Winner: New World Distillery
Highly Commended: Archie Rose Distilling Co
Visitor Attraction Manager of the Year:
Winner: Harriet Leigh – Archie Rose
Highly Commended: Peter Bignell – Belgrove Distillery
Craft Producer of the Year:
Winner: Belgrove Distillery
Highly Commended: Tin Shed Distillery
Brand Innovator of the Year:
Winner: Rochford Distillery
Highly Commended: New World Distillery
Whisky Media Communicator of the Year:
Winner: Whisky and Wisdom
Highly Commended: Whisky Waffle
Single Outlet Retailer of the Year:
Winner: Casa de Vinos (Melbourne)
Highly Commended: The Oak Barrel (Sydney)
Multiple Outlets Retailer of the Year:
Winner: Camperdown Cellars – NSW
Highly Commended: Malt Traders – QLD
Online Retailer of the Year:
Winner: Dan Murphy Online
Highly Commended: The Old Barrel House
Supermarket of the Year:
Winner: Dan Murphy’s
Highly Commended: Vintage Cellars
Travel Retailer of the Year:
Winner: Lagardère Travel Retail
Highly Commended: Heinemann Australia
Scotch Whisky Brand Ambassador of the Year:
Winner: Matt Bailey – Society Bottlings (The Scotch Malt Whisky Society Australia)
Highly Commended: James Macrae – Ailsa Bay (William Grant & Son)
Irish Whiskey Brand Ambassador of the Year:
Winner: Dan Woolley – Connnemara (The Exchange)
Highly Commended: Josh O’Brien – Writers Tears | The Irishman (Spirits Platform)
American Whiskey Brand Ambassador of the Year:
Winner: Thalita Alves – Woodford Reserve| Jack Daniel’s (Brown Forman)
Highly Commended: Michael Thomas – Knob Creek | Maker’s Mark | Jim Beam | Booker’s | Basil Hayden’s (The Exchange)
World Whisky Brand Ambassador of the Year:
Winner: Mark Hickey – Nant Whisky
Highly Commended: Kevin Griffin – Nikka Whisky
Bar of the Year:
Winner: Whisky and Alement
Highly Commended: Nola Smoke House and Bar
Hotel Bar of the Year:
Winner: Evolve Spirits Bar, MACq 01 Hotel Hobart
Highly Commended: Eau De Vie, The Kirkton Hotel Sydney
Bar Group of the Year:
Winner: Speakeasy Group
Highly Commended: Swillhouse Group
Bartender of the Year:
Winner: Alex Dahlenburg – Mjølner
Highly Commended: Simon Hopkins – NOLA
Hall of Fame Inductee:
Ian Atherton, Spirits Platform
You can view last year’s winners here.
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