Cardrona Distillery founder Desiree Whitaker said she had tears in her eyes when she received the call on Thursday night to say their 3-year-old "Just Hatched" whisky had won the single malt whisky 12 years and under category.
"These are considered the most prestigious whisky awards in the world. This is beyond my wildest dreams. I am incredibly humbled and the staff are ecstatic."
She said if she had to describe their winning formula it would be doing things properly, not cutting corners, attention to detail and the superb Cardrona water.
"You can really taste the character of Cardrona in the whisky. The taste is rich and sweet, there is no peat, no smoke, and it has a rich oiliness on the tongue."
The Cardrona Valley boutique distillery is New Zealand’s largest whisky distillery but Ms Whitaker said it was "like a grain of sand" compared to other distilleries around the world.
It was built in 2015, the first spirit ran off the stills on October 23 that year and the first cask was laid down a month later.
Ms Whitaker said it produced just one barrel a day compared to Jack Daniels which produced about barrel a minute.
Only 3000 375ml-sized bottles of Just Hatched were produced.
Ms Whitaker paid tribute to her staff for their success, in particular their Dunedin-born master distiller Sarah Elson.
The award will be presented to Cardrona Distillery at the Whisky Magazine Awards 2020 in London on March 26.
