Four Pillars Gin has been named the world’s best gin distillery, taking out the 2019 International Gin Producer of the Year Award at the International Wine and Spirits Competition.
Widely considered the Oscars of the international drinks industry, the IWSC is the world’s largest and most prestigious international competition for spirits with more than 3000 entries from all corners of the globe.
Four Pillars Gin Co-founder and Distiller Cameron Mackenzie received the award in front of 600 leaders of the global drinks community in London.
“To win this award, on the eve of our sixth birthday is really, truly, bloody incredible,” Mackenzie said.
“When we started making test batches of gin back in 2012 we never in our maddest, wildest dreams thought this could happen so quickly. To say that I am in a state of disbelief would be vastly understating the true state of my disbelief.
“This award is a tribute to every single person who has helped us make, sell, create, drink or buy one of our gins. This is reward for all of them. This award is not for a single one of our gins but for the whole of our gin business and that’s what makes it so incredibly special.
“The previous two winners of this award are Hernö from Sweden in 2017 and Kyoto Distillery in Japan last year so we couldn’t be in better company. They are two of the greatest distilleries and two of our best mates in the world of gin.”
Four Pillars Gin was established in 2013 in the Yarra Valley on the outskirts of Melbourne.
Four Pillars today produces around 100,000 cases of gin annually (equivalent to 600,000 bottles).
Australia is in the middle of a gin boom which has seen consumption of locally-produced gin grow by 33% in 2018 and likely a similar number in 2019.
There is estimated to be around 180 distilleries in Australia producing gin today. In 2013 there were fewer than 15. In the past five years (2013 – 2018), Australian consumption of gin has increased by 15.2% per annum and Four Pillars has grown at an average 83.4% a year since its launch in 2013 (IWSR reports).
Lion announced in March that it was investing in Four Pillars Gin, taking a 50% stake in the distillery.
