Icons of Whisky 2014 award winners announced

Whisky Magazine has announced the winners of its Icons of Whisky awards and four new inductees to the magazine's Hall of Fame.

The Icons are designed to celebrate the people and places behind the great whiskies of the world, with the World Whiskies Awards taking care of the liquid later in the year.

Whisky Magazine asked the industry to nominate themselves in the various categories, then based on the evidence an independent editorial panel drew up a shortlist from which the winners were picked.

It has been a dramatic year for whisky globally. We have seen the constant expansion of distilleries in Scotland, Ireland, Canada and the US to keep up with demand. New distilleries have also sprung up across the world with new producers eager to ride the whisky wave; similarly in the USA craft distilling is starting to carve a big niche and tantalise drinkers with new flavours and styles.

Reflecting this global nature of the whisky industry, the Icons are designed to celebrate the people and places behind the great whiskies of the world.

Continuing the same format as previous years the editorial panel held voting rounds for companies based in the USA, Scotland and the rest of the world.

This gave us a final shortlist from which the global icons are voted on by the editorial judging panel. Voting this year was pretty close in many categories, with just a few votes separating the winner from the rest of the nominations.

• Whisky Distiller of the year: Diageo Scotland
• Whisky Retailer of the year – Single Outlet: The Whisky Exchange
• Whisky Retailer of the year – Multiple Outlet: La Maison Du Whisky
• Whisky Online Retailer of the year: Master of Malt
• Whisky Visitor Attraction of the year: Laphroaig Distillery
• Whisky Brand Innovator of the year: Willian Grant & Sons
• Whisky Ambassador of the year: Michael Foggarty - L. Mulligan Grocer/Swallow
• Whisky Distillery Manager of the year: Michael Heads - Ardbeg Distillery
• Whisky Visitor Centre Manager of the year: Tish Harcus - Canadian Club Brand Center

The Whisky Magazine Hall of Fame is a permanent reminder of those noteworthy individuals who have made a lasting contribution to the world of whisky. This year,  a further four inductees to the Hall of Fame were announced: Barry Crockett, former master distiller, Irish Distillers; James McEwan, master distiller, Bruichladdich Distillery; Frank McHardy, director of production, J A Mitchell & Co; and Dennis Malcolm, master distiller, Glen Grant Distillery.

Each of the inductees received a beautifully crafted decanter with a natural cork stopper created by Amorim Top Series.

24 March 2014 - Felicity Murray The Drinks Report, editor