Overview
Since launching in 2013, Four Pillars has given Australian gin lovers plenty to drink, including its famed Bloody Shiraz Gin, an annual Christmas-themed tipple, olive leaf gins and even a boozy ode to Melbourne landmark The Espy. Next time you pour yourself a sip of one of the above juniper spirits, you'll actually be pouring yourself a drop from the world's best gin producer, with the Yarra Valley-based distillery earning that title for the second consecutive year at 2020's International Wine and Spirits Competition.
Four Pillars nabbed what's considered the industry's top gin gong, receiving the prize in a virtual ceremony on Thursday, November 18 at 6pm UK time. And if you're wondering about the size and scale of the IWSC, it's the globe's largest international competition for spirits, receiving more than 4000 entries worldwide.
Winning for its impressive range of gins — which also includes its Rare Dry Gin, Spiced Negroni Gin and Navy Strength Gin — Four Pillars made history by becoming the first Australian distillery to win the award in 2019. It's the latest exciting chapter in the company's short but substantial run so far, with the gin outfit founded by Cameron Mackenzie, Stuart Gregor and Matt Jones seven years ago, earning plenty of acclaim and awards since, and selling a 50-percent stake to beer giant Lion earlier in 2019.
Four Pillars Laboratory in Surry Hills by Anson Smart
In anointing Four Pillars this year's IWSC International Gin Producer of the Year, the organisation also recognised the company's role in the gin industry, its commitment to collaboration and creativity — and its full lineup of tipples.
This year certainly hasn't been a normal year for the company, however, with the distillery pivoting to produce hand sanitiser overnight when the pandemic hit — and then launching its first Sydney bar and distillery just a couple of months later.
"This is a triumph for strength over adversity, for professionalism and passion in the face of what sometimes in 2020 seemed insurmountable odds," said Mackenzie in a statement. "This is a victory for every single person in the Four Pillars world but most particularly for everyone at Healesville who has faced so much uncertainty and difficulty this year but has never stopped putting in the hard yards."
To peruse the full list of International Wine and Spirits Competition 2020 winners, visit the organisation's website.