Distilled spirits from across regional Australia dominate at inaugural Sydney Royal Distilled Spirit Show.

The Royal Agricultural Society of NSW has tonight announced the recipients of its inaugural Sydney Royal Distilled Spirit Show, with fourteen champions from across Australia crowned in categories ranging from Champion Traditional Gin to Champion Single Malt Whisky and Champion Ready to Drink.

Out of the fourteen champions announced there was a notable representation from winners across regional Australia with gins from Lord Howe Island, Yamba and the Central Coast all taking home champion prizes while the Central Coast was also named the home of single malt whisky.

Taking the top award, however, was St Agnes Distillery which won the inaugural Best Distilled Spirit of Show thanks to the St Agnes XO Grand Reserve, with the 40-year-old world-class brandy earning an impressive 98 points out of 100.

Sydney Royal Chair of Judges, Stuart Gregor said “The inaugural Sydney Royal Distilled Spirits Show was, I think, a great success with the competition receiving more than 270 entries and delivering a wonderfully varied range of winners, with a strong emphasis on regional NSW,” Gregor said.

“If you had told me that a rum from Canberra and a gin from Yamba would be category champions, I might have raised some eyebrows, but both are absolute belters, world class examples of their respective styles and worthy gold medal winners in any competition in the world.

“The highest pointed entrant in the entire show was the St Agnes XO Grand Reserve 40-year-old brandy and quite honestly nothing really came close. The final aggregated score for it was 98/100 and to be perfectly truthful I’m a bit surprised it didn’t end up as 99 or 100.

“This is a truly incredible brandy, as good, and frankly probably better than many of the most expensive and prestigious French Cognacs. It has an almost impossibly rich and unctuous palate and length that seems to go forever. Sure, its expensive ($1000 a bottle or thereabouts) but if drinking the greatest spirits in the world is your thing, then you simply MUST taste this St Agnes.”

Across the competition 14% of entries received a gold medal, followed by 32.6% claiming silver and 41.7% bronze. This resulted in 88% of all entries receiving a medal which proved that despite the challenges the industry is currently facing, the quality Australian distillers are producing has never been better. 

The Central Coast’s Amber Lane Distillery is a perfect example of this, with the relatively young distillery taking home Champion Single Malt Whisky with their Alchemical Series: Water and putting the Central Coast on the map.

“The winner of the whisky class was a brilliant effort from Amber Lane Distillery. Their Alchemical Series: Water was a really strong winner and continues a run of wins for this Central Coast based distillery. An outstanding whisky from a producer who will very soon surely be much better known,” Gregor said.

For the coffee lovers out there the inaugural Champion Ready to Drink went to Curatif’s Espresso Martini, which impressed the judges with its complex flavours while Champion Liqueur went to The Canberra Distillery for its Coffee Liqueur. The Canberra Distillery also struck gold with the Old George Reserve Rum winning The Chair of Judges Annual Prize.

“The inaugural winner of the competitive Ready to Drink class was a truly delicious, and perfect for early afternoon judging, Espresso Martini from Curatif. This was as good as anything you would expect to be served in the best bars around town, it retained a lovely crema on top and balanced coffee and sweetness perfectly,” Gregor said.

In the competition’s highest entered category ‘gin’, three standouts stole the show and that was Yamba Distilling Co which won Champion Traditional Gin thanks to its Duke - Dry Gin, the Central Coast’s Pants off Distillery which claimed Champion Contemporary Gin with its Pants Off Antz Pants Gin and Lord Howe Island Distilling Co which took home Champion Other Gin courtesy of its Wolfe Rock Gin. 

“The wildest named winner was the Pants Off – Pants Off Antz Pants gin which collected the trophy in the largest and most competitive class in the show – Contemporary Gin. It is a lovely modern style showcasing some great pepper characteristics and a soft, well balanced palate.”

Putting Australian agave spirits in the spotlight thanks to their one-of-a-kind creations, Top Shelf International has not only led the way for the variety in Australia but can now add Champion Alternative Spirit to their accolades with Act of Treason Reposado taking the top prize.
 
“Australia is now growing a few thousand Hectares of Agave, the succulent that makes the famous Tequila and Mezcal spirits of Mexico and our inaugural winner, the Act of Treason – reposado (meaning rested in barrel for several months) was as good an example as most highly regarded commercial Tequilas. The agave for this is grown near Airlie Beach in Northern Queensland and is a product to watch for sure.”

Also recognised was Manly Spirits Co’s Grape & Grain Vodka which won Champion Vodka and Champion NSW Distilled Spirit, Fleurieu Distillery’s Country to Coast #5 which was crowned Champion Grain or Blend Whisky and Lord Byron Distillery’s Pure Single Rum – Ex Red Wine. 2023 release Cask #8 which scored Champion Cane Spirit or Rum. 

This year’s Sydney Royal Distilled Spirit Show Awards was also held in conjunction with the 2024 Sydney Royal Beer & Cider Show with champion results. All results are available here.

History of the RAS and Distilled Spirits:
While 2024 might mark the inaugural standalone Sydney Royal Distilled Spirits Show, the Royal Agricultural Society of NSW has a long history of judging Australian spirits with the 202-year-old company’s records stating that at the 1870 Sydney Royal Easter Show 3 bottles of gin were entered into the ‘Spirits, from Grape, Cane, Grain, Roots &c’. The RAS last judged Australian spirits in 1981.