The International Wine and Spirits Competition (IWSC) has launched its Top 50 Spirits Producers list, with three Australian distilleries receiving inaugural rankings.
The list has been compiled using IWSC results data drawn from a three-year period and celebrates the exceptional achievements of spirit makers across the globe.
The Whisky Club came in at No.31, followed by Four Pillars at No.38 and The Gospel Distillery at No.48 in the world, alongside industry giants including Diageo, Brown-Forman and Suntory.
“More than a ranking, it recognises the producers whose craftsmanship, consistency, and innovation have earned them distinction across IWSC judging,” IWSC said.
“These are the names setting benchmarks for quality and shaping the future of drinks production worldwide.”
“The IWSC Top 50 Producers and Honor Roll make one thing clear: in a crowded global market, the real differentiator isn’t a single headline-grabbing vintage or a spirit expression voted ‘World’s Best’, but relentless, measurable quality over time,” said Forbes‘ writer Joseph V Micallef.
“The producers who appear on these lists have proved they can deliver excellence across styles, categories and seasons. For drinkers, the IWSC Top 50 and Honor Roll offer something equally valuable: a curated shortcut to bottles that have impressed some of the most demanding palates in the business, not just once, but again and again.”
Based in Hobart, The Whisky Club connects 38,000 members with exclusive and one-off whiskies created by the world’s best whisky makers.
“This incredible recognition is thanks to one thing – the whiskies created for our members,” said The Whisky Club General Manager Seamus Carroll.
“We are not independent bottlers, instead we work directly with the whisky makers to create whiskies we know our members love. As distillers and master blenders regularly tell us, it’s their chance to flex with freedom for never-to-be-repeated expressions that showcase their distilleries in their finest.”
The Gospel was the only Australian whiskey distiller on the list.
“Recognition like this affirms our obsession. Rye is The Gospel,” the distiller said. “And our unwavering dedication to the grain is rewarded in the bottle, in the glass, behind the bar, with you, followers and believers, and on days like this, on the world stage.”
View the full list here.