Irish Distillers World Whiskey Producer of Year
From left: World Whiskey Producer of the Year winners General Manager of Irish Distillers Midleton Distillery Paul Wickham, Irish Distillers Production Director Tommy Keane with the President of the International Wine and Spirits Competition Sir George Fistonich, Irish Distillers Master Blender Billy Leighton and Irish Distillers Blender Dave McCabe.
The distillery scooped the accolade after scoring the highest number of medals across its portfolio of Irish whiskeys throughout the 2019 awards season, beating other distillers from Ireland, Japan and the US.
The outstanding year of recognition for Midleton Distillery saw it claim 24 award wins including the Worldwide Whiskey Trophy for Redbreast 12 Year-Old Single Pot Still which continues to be the most decorated single pot still Irish whiskey in the world.
The spirits competition also awarded Jameson Cooper’s Croze and Midleton Barry Crockett Legacy an impressive 98 points out of 100, meaning Irish Distillers won the most Gold Outstanding honours within the Irish whiskey category. In addition, the Powers Three Swallows release, Powers John’s Lane 12 Year-Old, Redbreast 15 Year-Old and Red Spot 15 Year-Old Single Pot Still were all awarded gold medals.
The IWSC, the international benchmark for quality, was the first competition of its kind set up to seek out, reward and promote the world’s best wines, spirits and liqueurs.
Now in its 50th year, the IWSC is set apart by the formidable reputation of its judging process with panels made up of carefully-selected industry experts including Master Distillers, Masters of Wine, wine and spirit buyers and sommeliers, WSET-qualified educators and respected wine and spirit journalists.
