WA’s best distillers have been awarded the ultimate prestige at the 2024 Perth Royal Distilled Spirits Awards, with local distilleries around Perth snapping up some serious accolades.
This year’s event, hosted at Claremont Showgrounds, showcased the outstanding quality and diversity of spirits distilled across WA’s regions with Gold Medals awarded to producers from Kununurra to Bridgetown.
The Hon. Jackie Jarvis MLC, Minister for Agriculture and Food, Forestry, and Small Business presented the awards alongside John Snowball, President of the Royal Agricultural Society of WA (RASWA).
Old Young’s Distillery in Henley Brook received top honours of the night, crowned winner of the coveted Champion Spirit Award for their Old Young’s 1829 Gin and the Champion Distillery Award which recognises the exemplary quality of their spirits range.
Swan River Distilling from Welshpool was awarded Champion Liqueur for their Swan River Distillery Port Gin Liqueur. The small urban distillery, owned by father and daughter duo Scott and Abby, also swept up Gold Medals for their Swan River Distillery Chili Vodka and Swan River Distillery Port Gin Liqueur.
James Young, Owner of Old Young’s (Champion Spirit and Distillery), said: “This is the first time we’ve had all of our core range spirits win Gold medals. Winning the Champion trophy for gin and the overall Champion Spirit is phenomenal. We have won Champion Distillery before, but we’ve never won Champion Gin. We were not expecting this. We were up against insanely good brandy and whiskey, so for our 1829 Signature Gin to be awarded Champion Gin and Champion Spirit means its super well made, and for the judges to recognise that is amazing. Champion Gin and Spirit to me is more important than Champion Distiller because it’s a celebration of our gin product – I got into the industry to make gin.”
The judging panel consisted of 20 independent experts who evaluated 169 entries from 36 exhibitors in the company of 10 stewards. The products were meticulously assessed for each product based on five criteria – colour/appearance, nose, palate, balance and finish.
Overall, 6 Champion Trophies, 27 Gold Medals, 55 Silver Medals, and 58 Bronze Medals were awarded.
Top Honours and Notable Winners:
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Old Young’s 1829 Gin was crowned Champion Gin. Old Young’s was awarded Gold Medals for their Old Young’s 1829 Gin, Old Young’s Common Gin, Old Young’s 1829 Gin, Old Young’s Six Seasons Gin and Old Young’s Pavlova Vodka.
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White Light Beverages, hailing from Victoria, was awarded Champion Vodka and a Gold Medal for their White Light Vodka Original.
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South Australian St Agnes Distillery was awarded Champion Brandy for their St Agnes XO. They also won Gold Medals for their St Agnes Bartenders Cut and St Agnes XO.
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The Packing Shed Distilling Company in Bickley won a Gold Medal for their Garden Party Floral Gin, as well as Gold Medals in the Liqueurs category for their Australian Limoncello and Coffee Liqueur.
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Spirit of Little Things, located in Subiaco, won Gold Medals for their Australian Botanical Gin and Pinor Noir Gin.
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Coppertop Distillery, from Brigadoon in Perth’s northeast, won Gold Medals for their Salted Caramel Vodka and Barrel Aged Gin.
Other notable winners included:
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Southern suburbs Wandering Distillery was awarded a Gold Medal for their Wandering Distillery Signature Gin.
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CBD-based Whipper Snapper Distillery won a Gold Medal for their Upshot Cask Strength Whisky.
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Australian Distilling Ltd, from Henley Brook in the Swan Valley, won a Gold Medal for their Gingin Gin.
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Damaged Goods Distilling Co., located in Middle Swan, was awarded a Gold Medal in the Liqueurs category for their Smashed Apple Aperitivo.
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Sin Gin Distillery in Herne Hill was awarded a Gold Medal in the Liqueurs category for their Sloe Gin 2023.
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Little Stiller Distillery, based in Mandurah, won a Gold Medal for their Signature Gin.
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Beyond Distilling, located in Busselton, won a Gold Medal for x17 , their trademark gin.
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Thorny Devil Distillers, based in Herron just south of Mandurah, won a Gold Medal for their Dragons Cut Vodka.
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Hoochery Distillery, located in far north Kununurra, won a Gold Medal for their Kimberley Time – Barrel Rested Gin.
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Thirsty Group, from regional Victoria, was awarded a Gold Medal for their Baxter Vodka.
A full list of 2024 Perth Royal Distilled Spirits Award Winners and results can be viewed here: PRFA 2024 Distilled Spirits Results Catalogue.pdf
Bill Lark, Head Judge, said: “The standard of entries across the board has risen significantly and I truly believe that these awards provide the perfect platform for the emerging WA Spirts industry together with entries from across the country to push such high standards. I can assure entrants and the public that these awards are run on the highest level of ethics and the calibre of independent judges is something I am truly proud of.”
Bill is a prominent figure in the Australian distilling industry. He is the founder of Lark Distillery, established in 1992, and has played a significant role in the resurgence of the Australian whisky industry.
Perth Royal Distilled Spirits Awards
Established in 2019, the Perth Royal Distilled Spirits Awards showcase the very best of our homegrown spirits, liqueurs and bitters from Perth Metropolitan and Regional WA. The awards recognise the craftmanship, skill and hard work behind every bottle.
The awards form part of the Perth Royal Food Awards organised by the Royal Agricultural Society of WA (RASWA), which celebrate exceptional producers from across the regions of WA and around Australia.
Entrants
The following producers exhibited at the judging event:
Distillery
Location
30 Knots Spirits
Wandina
Australian Distilling Ltd
Henley Brook
Banks And Bloom
Wangara
Beyond Distilling
Cowaramup
Black Cockatoo Distillery
Nedlands (Bridgetown)
Blackwood Valley Distillery
Samson (Bridgetown)
Carmel Distillery
Kalamunda
Coppertop Distillery
Brigadoon
Damaged Goods Distilling Co.
Herne Hill
Dune Distilling Co
Wilyabrup
Hhh Distill
Bickley
Hillarys Distillery
Gnangara
Impi Brewers And Distillers
Wangara
Little Stiller Distillery
Mandurah
Ningaloo Distillery
Exmouth
Old Young’s
Henley Brook
Ord River Distillery
Kununurra
Running With Thieves
South Fremantle
Sin Gin Distillery
Leederville (Herne Hill)
Sires Distillery
North Perth
Spirit Of Little Things
Cottesloe
St Agnes Distillery
Renmark
Swan River Distilling
Ascot
The Packing Shed Distilling Company
Bickley
Thirsty Group
Braeside
Thorny Devil Distillers Pty Ltd T/A Lizard Dragon Distillers
Clarkson
Wandering Distillery Pty Ltd
O’Connor
White Light Beverages
Prahran East
Whoud Pty Ltd
Osborne Park
ENDS
Old Young’s take out Champion Spirit Award
