Hinch wins gold
From left: Hinch’s Head Distiller Aaron Flaherty, Chairman Dr Terry Cross and International Sales Director Michael Morris.
This range is a trio of fine Irish whiskeys that have been finished using craft beer casks from Whitewater Brewing in Northern Ireland and Kinnegar Brewery in County Donegal.
The accolade saw the whiskey receive 95 points from a potential 100, one of the highest scores ever given to an Irish whiskey finished in ex-craft beer casks.
Despite the pandemic, the IWSC 2021 was the competition’s largest-ever event and saw 80 experts judge over 4,000 spirits.
In total, spirits from 86 countries were tasted and assessed including whisky from Israel, Shochu from England, gin from Brazil and vodka from Kyrgyzstan.
The Hinch’s Craft & Casks range consists of three whiskeys – the Imperial Stout Finish, the Irish Red Rye Finish and the Rye Export Stout Finish – which have been disrupting the taste profile of the whiskey scene since they launched earlier this year.
The Craft & Casks range offers a distinctly flavoured beer barrel-aged whiskey, an emerging trend in the industry and Hinch has won a number of awards in its two years of operation.
The IWSC medal is awarded on the back of large distribution deals the business has secured with firms in China, Hong Kong, Taiwan, Australia, New Zealand, the US, France, Germany, Poland and Russia.
“Despite not being able to open our public offering fully at the distillery for over a year, we’ve continued to develop our offering, expand our portfolio and win major deals in the shadows of what has been a very challenging economic climate,” said Hinch Chairman Dr Terry Cross OBE who opened his distillery and restaurant to the public at the end of May.
Aaron Flaherty, Head Distiller at Hinch, added, “Premium Irish Whiskey is one of the fastest-growing spirits categories in the world. We’ve been very creative in ramping-up our offering by pairing matured whiskeys with craft beers from this part of Ireland”.
Hinch Distillery also makes Ninth Wave Gin, the most highly-awarded gin in the world in 2020.
Hinch Irish Whiskey Imperial Stout Finish, Craft & Casks range.
