Anohka Distillery Wins Big at World Whiskies Award
An Alberta distillery has won the “World’s Best New Make & Young Spirit” title at the World Whiskies Awards in London. The young distillery outperformed seasoned entries from Scotland, Ireland, Japan, and the U.S. Anohka Distillery won the honor with its heavily peated “This is Not Whisky” spirit.
According to Gurpreet Ranu, Anohka owner and distiller, he was surprised at the win against other famous and seasoned distilleries. It is the second time Anohka has been nominated for the World Whiskies Awards. Preparation for the World Whiskies Awards begins with winning the national competition.
Anohka Distillery Wins Best Whisky at World Whiskies Award
‘The competition this year was really interesting because there were really famous distillers,” Karthik said. “There was a group from Scotland which is now run by four whiskey legends. They opened up a new distillery called The Borders. We beat them. Clonakilty in Ireland, they submitted their new make. We beat them. The same Japanese distillery again had entered this year and … we beat them.”
Anohka Distillery was founded in December 2021 by Ranu, a physicist turned lawyer turned distiller. He owns a farm in Parkland County located about 40 kilometres west of Edmonton. The distillers combine modern, sustainable technology with traditional techniques, including copper pot stills. The whisky is produced using local barley.
“They called all the nominees up to the stage and I looked around and I saw who I was up against, and these are veterans in the industry… titans in the industry. I’m looking around and … I don’t really feel like I belong on this stage but if we win, I mean, amazing,” Ranu said.
“It was really cool being in that room and going up against these heavyweights,” Ranu said. “I’m just this guy from Parkland County. Nobody’s heard of me and I show up and I win best in the world. It was pretty crazy.”