IRISH DISTILLERS SWEEPS THE BOARD AT THE INTERNATIONAL SPIRITS CHALLENGE
Dublin, 11 July 2019: Irish Distillers, makers of some of the world’s most enjoyed whiskeys, has regained its ‘World Whisky Producer of the Year’ crown at the International Spirits Challenge (ISC) – winning the Trophy for the first time since 2016 at the prestigious awards ceremony in London last night.
Pictured at the 2019 International Spirits Challenge in London are representatives from Irish Distillers.
Now in its 24th year, the International Spirits Challenge is one of the oldest spirits tasting competitions of its kind, promoting outstanding quality spirits from across the globe for almost a quarter of a century. Irish Distillers scooped the highest recognition for World Whisky at the competition after scoring the highest medals across its family of Irish whiskeys – beating out whiskey portfolios from Ireland, Japan and the USA. The result follows a stellar year at the competition for Midleton Distillery in which it scooped an outstanding 24 medals, including four new Double Gold medals.
Introduced to celebrate the very best in show, whiskeys across the Jameson, Powers and Midleton ranges were the only Irish whiskeys tasted at the competition to receive the Double Gold honour in 2019. Midleton Very Rare Barry Crockett Legacy, introduced in 2011 as part of Irish Distillers’ commitment to rejuvenating the single pot still Irish whiskey category, scooped a Double Gold medal and also went on to win the Tasting Trophy for the best Irish whiskey.
The International Spirits Challenge also honoured Midleton Very Rare 2018, Powers Three Swallows Release and the newly-released Jameson Bow Street 18 Years Cask Strength with Double Gold medals, in addition to five Gold medals for Jameson Caskmates Stout Edition, Jameson 18 Year Old, Redbreast 12 Year Old Cask Strength, Redbreast 21 Year Old and Powers Gold Label.
On the continued success of the 2019 awards season, Master Distiller, Brian Nation commented: “We are delighted to reclaim our place as World Whisky Producer of the Year at the ISC and to see such excellent results continue across the portfolio as we move further into the 2019 awards season. It’s fantastic to see the Midleton Very Rare family perform so well – an appropriate accolade for the pinnacle of Irish whiskey. These awards are a tribute to the craftsmen and women at Midleton Distillery, Co. Cork, past and present, who work tirelessly to produce whiskeys of unrivalled quality. We look forward to seeing what the remainder of 2019 will bring!”
The International Spirits Challenge competition is founded on a rigorous and independent judging process, which serves to encourage the high calibre of spirits, designs and campaigns entered into the competition each year