Bladnoch Distillery honoured in Queen’s award list

April 26, 2022
By Ioni Doherty

Australian-owned Scottish distillery, Bladnoch, has received the Queen’s Award for Enterprise for its excellence in International Trade. The distillery is one of 226 organisations to be recognised in the honours list which are the most prestigious business awards in the United Kingdom.

Parliamentary Under-Secretary of State for Scotland, Iain Stewart MP, said: “Bladnoch makes world-class whisky in Dumfries and Galloway, showcasing the excellence Scottish business is renowned for.

“Its achievements in trade prove Scotland is a major player on the global business stage.”

The award recognises Bladnoch’s excellent in international trade relations for exports over the past three years. The Scotch sits in the top three of all Lowland whiskies sold in almost all of its export markets, with Germany, China and the USA all doubling their growth in the last year alone. 

Bladnoch is exported to more than 50 countries and the company sells directly to consumers in the UK, Australia and the US via its fast growing e-commerce store.

It is the oldest privately owned Scotch Whisky distillery and the first ever to be owned by an Australian, acquired by Melbourne-based entrepreneur David Prior in 2015.

Head of Commercial, Will Pitchforth, said, “The growth of the Bladnoch Distillery business has been a reflection of the dedication to quality and exceptional whisky making, combined with a philosophy, core to our way of working, to conduct business with integrity and fairness, recognised by our network of trusted distributors around the world.

“Managing the export side of the business from Australia has brought some challenges, especially during the pandemic, however it meant we were well prepared to work remotely and continued our rapid pace of growth.”

Share the content