TimeforWhisky.com interviews Spirit of the Craft Award winners Westward Whiskey, Launceston Distillery, Raasay Distillery & Macaloney's Distillery

We recently posted news on Facebook of a new Spirits Awards (hear us out...), the first from Asia, focusing on smaller producers around the world. "Spirit of Craft Awards" was launched in January of this year, and involves a panel of experts from Asia's bar and drinks media community.

Over three months, entries from across 15 countries – Australia, Cambodia, Canada, Finland, France, Germany, India, Indonesia, Italy, Scotland, Singapore, Thailand, New Zealand, Netherlands, and the U.S. – made their way to Singapore for judging by a panel of 36 judges in early May, with the results announced shortly after.

The full list of 2024/2025 winners can be found here, but we were lucky enough to score an interview with four of the winners, including both "3 Star" winners Isle of Raasay & Launceston Distillery, as well as Westward Distillery (whose whiskies we've covered a few times on the blog) & Macaloney Distillery. 

We wanted to understand what made their whiskies unique, the industry changes they've seen, how they engage customers in an increasingly crowded market, and any learnings they've picked up about running a distillery. So without further ado, we bring the answers from:

• Launceston Distillery Head Distiller / Production Manager - Chris Condon
• Raasay Distillery Co-Founder and Master Distiller - Alasdair Day
• Westward Distillery Master Blender - Miles Munroe; and
• Macaloney's Island Distillery President & Master wheiskymaker - Dr Graeme Macaloney

The view from Raasay Distillery's warehouse

1. There’s a lot of great whisky out there, and a lot of distilleries who’ve opened in the past 5-10 years. In a sentence of two, what makes yours stand out?

• Launceston: "We are a boutique whisky distillery, solely focussed on producing hand-crafted single malts. Our location in a restored heritage-listed aircraft hangar is an obvious point of difference. We also try to stay true to ourselves, an independent distillery that strives to consistently make high quality small batch whisky."

• Raasay: "We do everything on Raasay - using water from our well at the distillery for mashing, fermentation, cooling, cask reduction and reduction to bottling strength. We mature all of our spirits in our own warehouses and bottle everything on site, where we now employ over 40 people who live on Raasay (an island with a population of only 161!). Our community and island are a constant source of inspiration, seen in the bespoke Isle of Raasay bottles with hand printed rock and fossil formations from our complex geology. Our spirit directly reflects and truly represents the island where it is created."

• Westward: "At Westward, which is located in the heart of the American Northwest we’re beholden to whiskey, not the traditions that surround it. Westward is brewed like a Pale Ale, distilled like a Single Malt, and aged like a Bourbon. Our whiskeys are matured to perfection in Oregon, one of the most fertile barley-growing regions in the world, where our unique hot, dry summers and cool, wet winters are the ideal environment to raise a world class whiskey."

• Macaloney's: "The World Whiskies Awards (WWAs) in the UK are the most competitive in the world and conducted via blind tasting with industry-experienced judges. At these, our whisky and new-make underpinning our whiskies have won 3 'World's Best' and 8 'Category Best' gold medals. Our growing repeat sales, in Taiwan, across Europe, and elsewhere (we are interested to find a distributor for Australia) in an economic climate where Scotch sales are down, speaks to the excitement and interest in high quality whiskies with real craft provenance like ours."

Launceston Distillery

2. How have you seen the industry change in the time since you started?

• Launceston: "There has been tremendous growth in the Tasmanian industry. The number of distilleries has doubled in that time. But consumers are now more aware of Tasmanian spirits, and there has been international recognition for the quality of whisky coming from Tasmania."

• Raasay: "There have been some massive changes in the industry in Scotland since we founded R&B Distillers in July 2014. At that time there were only 90 operating distilleries in Scotland selling single malt whisky. Now there are over 150 malt and grain distilleries. There have been huge steps forward in technology since we designed our process for our Isle of Raasay distillery particularly in sustainable technology."

• Westward: "Westward began in 2004. At the time, there were just 3 dozen craft distilleries in the U.S. Today, we’re proud to be a leader among more than 3,000. With that, it means that to truly stand out you have to have a distinct point of view, excellent quality credentials, and an innovative approach."

• Macaloney's: "There has been a lot more interest in craft single malt as enthusiasts look for greater quality, yearn to understand what creates the flavours, and are interested in genuine provenance. Also connoisseurs have come to realise that quality is not tied to age and that deep complex maturation comes from best distilling practices and the best oak casks."

Westward's Miles Munroe

3. As a craft distillery, what’s the best way to engage new and potential fans?

• Launceston: "For people who are not familiar with our whisky, nothing beats giving them a taste. Therefore, award programs like SOcraft provide valuable recognition and exposure, which gives new customers the confidence to taste our whisky for the first time."

• Raasay: "We are creating experiences for all of our guests who visit our Isle of Raasay distillery. The adventure starts when you make the 25 minute ferry crossing from Sconser on Skye to the Isle of Raasay, then a short walk (and an even shorter drive) to the distillery. We have six luxury ensuite bedrooms, a restaurant, residents lounge and a bar all with amazing views looking back over the Sound of Raasay to the Cuillin Mountains on Skye. It's the perfect place to relax with a Raasay dram, gin or a cocktail and soak up the full Isle of Raasay experience!"

• Westward: "We’re lucky to have won a host of awards and accolades, including the distinction as the #5 whisky in the world by Whisky Advocate. Those major acknowledgements – and the recognition of global authorities in whisky like Dave Broom, Becky Paskin, and others — have certainly helped us discover new fans and followers. We also love sharing what it is that we do with whiskey enthusiasts and visitors to the distillery, and proudly serves as an ‘open book’ in our approach to whiskey-making. This approach to transparency – where no question is off-limits – really helps us stay engaged with our customers."

• Macaloney's: "Liquid to lips! We love to send ambassadors in to whisky clubs or into whisky stores for vertical tastings, and to festival masterclasses where enthusiasts can taste our quality and hear our story."

Macaloney Distillery tour

4. What’s your “go to” or everyday whisky from your line-up, and why? What about your “special occasion” whisky?

• Launceston: "Our tawny cask matured whisky is a great everyday whisky. It has lovely fruity aromas and flavours, a rich smooth mouthfeel, and a finish that a judge recently compared to a ‘friendly bear hug’. It sips well neat,  but also has nice complexity that works well with cocktails. On special occasions we like our peated release. It is mildly peated with sweet bourbon and tawny influences to balance the smoke. This makes it very approachable, even for people who don’t like peat."

• Raasay: "My "go to" whisky from our line-up is our signature Isle of Raasay Hebridean single malt as this represents everything we do on Raasay. 80% of our annual production is filling the casks for our unique Na Sia cask recipe - we mature 6 separate cask types and marry these together at bottling to created our lightly peated style with dark fruit flavours. My "special occasion" whisky is our fully matured Columbian Oak 'Quercus humboldtii' cask single malt. This has a depth of flavour and texture ranging from Creme brulee to oolong tea. It is very special indeed and a very unique cask type to the Scotch Whisky industry."

• Westward: "The one to always reach for is Westward Whiskey Original, this is what began the innovative journey we’re still on. Our flagship whiskey is the trunk of the tree with almost all other variations branching off from this starting point.  It envelops everything about why we do what we do at Westward in the bottle.  My special occasion pour is most certainly Westward Whiskey Milestone.  Without a doubt the most elegant single malt we’ve produced, it's a marriage of our most highly prized casks and carefully blended over years in a twenty-one barrel Solera system."

• Macaloney's: "Thats a tough question partly because there are all my babies, plus we uniquely distill 3 very different styles - Single malt, Triple distilled pot still, and Peated single malt (smoked at our distillery). Of the single malts i love the an loy because like japanese single malts it is delicate and nieuanced  but with great depth and bapanced complexity. For the triple pot still it has to be the kildara becuase it defeated 27 year old, 21 yo, 15yo and 12 yo redbreast irish whiskies to win worlds best!, And for the peated a favorite is hard to choose becuase the 15ppm an aba is delicately sherried, whereas the 27 ppm siol dugall is fantastic for its virgin and bourbon-wood influence, whereas our peat project sugar kelp infused 54ppm peated single cask is a spectacular exploration of terroir and merroir!"

Westward Distillery

5. When you were growing your distillery, which was more important - on-premise or off-premise / retail?

• Launceston: "Both cannot be overlooked, and I would suggest they are as important as each other.  On-premise allows for new consumers to try our whisky without the outlay of a bottle purchase, however the retail space needs to be considered to give the consumer the easiest path to purchase once they have enjoyed it in a bar or restaurant."

• Raasay: "All of our sales channels are very important to us. On-premise is where new and potential fans can discover our Isle of Raasay Hebridean single malt & gin, seeing our bottle stand out on the back bar and enjoy their first dram. Off-premise / retail is where fans and lovers of Isle of Raasay can acquire our spirits, satisfy their signature Raasay desires and seek out our latest special releases."

• Westward: "Great question, and this has changed of course drastically through Covid and beyond. We look for a mix of both at Westward. We’re fortunate to have many enthusiasts in the bar world who respect what we do, and that is an excellent path for consumer discovery. But we also recognize that our whiskey needs to be available for a consumer who then wants to shop for our products.."

• Macaloney's: "Off premise however i now realize our whiskies are amazing in cocktails so bars will be important going forward."

Launceston Distillery's "Angus"

6. What’s one thing you wish you knew about running a distillery before you began?

• Launceston: "Sometimes the romance of running a distillery can be very different to the reality. It can be hard work and it requires patience and perseverance. But when everything comes together after years of maturation it is well worth the effort."

• Raasay: "How difficult it can be to stay focused on our key messaging and continuously, consistently preach that key messaging to the world. "

• Westward: "With Westward, we’re always planning several years ahead. The whiskey we make today won’t see the light of day for at least half a decade (give or take), and so we are always a step ahead. That includes some of our expansion efforts – like our capacity increase we recently underwent."

• Macaloney's: "HOW HARD IT IS TO MAKE A PROFIT AFTER ALL THE COSTS AND TAXES!"

A stunning vista from Raasay Distillery

 

 

Thanks must go to Chris, Alasdair, Miles & Dr Graham for the time and answers, and to the great team at Food News Singapore for coordinating the responses & media.

Cheers,

Martin.