Hibiki 21 Years Old and Knob Creek Single Barrel Reserve Win Top Prizes in Whisky Categories at the International Spirits Challenge 2014

16 Jul 2014 --- Japanese blended whisky Hibiki 21 Years Old and Knob Creek Single Barrel Reserve, from the whisky portfolio of Beam Suntory Inc., each won a "Trophy" award, the top prize in the whisky categories at the International Spirits Challenge (ISC) Awards Dinner 2014 held in London, England on Monday, July 14.

These honors are in addition to the 18 Gold Medals earned by Beam Suntory whiskies announced by the ISC, one of the world’s leading tasting competitions. Meanwhile Japanese rice vodka Ao won a “Trophy” prize in the vodka category.

In addition to those “Trophy” prizes, Suntory Liquors Limited also won the “Distiller of the Year” award, a prestigious honor bestowed upon one distiller that has produced a number of high-quality spirits. This is the third year in a row and the fourth time overall that Suntory Liquors Limited has received the “Distiller of the Year” award.

“These prestigious recognitions for Hibiki and Knob Creek are a reflection of the heritage, quality and expertise of the two great companies that are coming together to create Beam Suntory, which has a bright future as a whisky powerhouse in our industry,” said Matt Shattock, chairman and chief executive officer of Beam Suntory.

This recognition of brand quality comes just 11 weeks after the acquisition of Beam Inc. by Suntory Holdings, creating Beam Suntory, the world’s #3 premium spirits company. As previously announced, Beam Suntory intends to integrate the Spirits business of Suntory before the end of the year 2014.