The Distilled Spirit Awards took place this month in Perth, as part of the Perth Royal Food Awards, and saw St Agnes Distillery take home champion trophies for the second year running.
The St Agnes XO Grand Reserve 40 Year Old was awarded a Gold Medal and the ‘Champion Brandy trophy, then going on to win the overall Champion Spirit trophy too. The same awards were taken out by St Agnes in 2019 too, for their XO Imperial 20 Year Old.
It’s great news for the distillery, with the St Agnes team excited to keep raising and repositioning Australian brandy locally and internationally.
St Agnes’ Richard Angove said: “We were so excited to achieve this prestigious award for the second year in a row, firmly placing St Agnes as a leader of Australian craft spirits.
“We are extremely lucky to have such amazing aged XO resources to put these blends together and all credit to our master distiller Ben Horley and his predecessor, the late John Norman, for their care and attention in crafting such age worthy and unique spirit.”
The win for the St Agnes XO Grand Reserve 40 Year Old is also signifiant considering the scarcity of the liquid. With a RRP of $750 and limited quantity, the spirit is rarely entered in competitions.
Being South Australia’s oldest continually run craft distillery, St Agnes has barrels that date back 50 years or more, which contribute to its ability to create unique heritage spirits. The distillery has been hand crafting and ageing brandy every year since 1925 and Angove said the goal has always remained the same.
“The St Agnes Distillery has a clear purpose, to do one thing brilliantly and show the world another face of Australian produce excellence by crafting iconic Australian spirit of world-class standard,” Angove said.
Another big winner from the Distilled Spirit Awards was Old Young’s, which produces spirits out of Swan Valley, WA. Old Young’s was awarded the Champion Distillery title, as well as the Champion Vodka Trophy, for their Pure No 1 Vodka.
Celebrating the win on their social media, Old Young’s said: “With WA distilleries bringing some serious quality spirits to the table, it’s a sign of good times to come for this industry we love.”
The other champions of the event were Small Batch Distilling, winning the trophy for Champion Gin for their Red Hen Gin, and Whipper Snapper Distillery, winning the trophy for Champion Whiskey with the Cask Strength Upshot.
See a full list of medal winners across all categories in the Distilled Spirits Awards results catalogue here.