Griffith's very own The Aisling Distillery have taken out Gold and Double Gold at the prestigious global spirit awards hosted in America.
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The 2020 SIP Awards saw Murrumbidgee Dry Gin named the Gold Award Winner and Classic Dry Pepperberry named the Double Gold Award Winner, marking two incredible achievements for local producer Michelle Burns.
Ms Burns' gins are the first to ever be produced in the Riverina, the first to be produced by a local female and won over 167 consumer judges from across the globe.
"We are so excited, the result was so much more than we first expected," Ms Burns said.
"We've put the Riverina on the map for US gin, it's really exciting."
Michelle and husband Mark are no strangers to the distilling community, their award winning gins are under one year old, but they have been making and producing copper stills to other distillers for many years.
Their distillery, The Aisling Distillery, has seen great support from locals and passing tourists since their launch in October last year.
"It's exciting to think that we've gotten Gold and Double Gold on equipment that we also fabricate for other people," Ms Burns explained.
"It showcases that the equipment and the copper that we're using is state of the art."
Alongside claiming a prestigious double victory at the SIP Awards, The Aisling Distillery have continued to keep their eyes on the prize, entering all four of their gins in the Australian Gin Awards.
The results of that competition will be announced later this month.
"Consumer awards like the SIP Awards, go out to everyday people that just enjoy drinking gin," Ms Burns said.
"We're not on the shelf in US, so to be judged the way it was by the consumer, we were just over the moon, speechless really."
The SIP Awards is the only international consumer spirits competition with over 1,000 entries from distillers across the globe.
The global pandemic did place some difficulty on the event, forcing the first ever virtual SIP Awards in history, but The Aisling Distillery still managed to walk away victorious.
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