Emma Cookson Wins – International Wine and Spirit Competition
The 2024 International Wine and Spirit Competition has awarded Emma Cookson as the winner of the category Emerging Talent in Spirits Communication winner. The institution awards workers in the beverage industry and has been watching her performance for years.
Notably, Cookson, who won the Icons of Whisky’s Whisky Communicator of the Year award last year, was shortlisted for the award in 2023. The IWSC judges were impressed with her progress.
“Our judges praised Emma’s accessible writing style, the way she shares technical information, as well as information about lesser-known areas, without losing her audience, but instead bringing them along for the ride,” the IWSC said.
Emma Cookson Wins IWSC Award
As part of her bursary winnings, Cookson intends to conduct in-person interviews with distillers and distillery managers in the UK, which will hopefully lay the groundwork for a future book.
“Massive thank you of course to IWSC for the great work you do shining a light on the incredible producers and talents across the wine and spirits industry. And thank you to Fettercairn Whisky for sponsoring this category and helping to lift up and promote people like myself and my fellow insanely talented shortlisters,” Cookson said.
In addition, Cookson currently leads the editorial team of The Whisky List. She strived to make whisky educational, fun, and accessible for all audiences when designing the communication style for the online magazine.
“My goal is to broach the tricky and nuanced aspects of whisky history and production in a way that everyone of any experience level can learn something new from it. I’m so humbled that our work writing about whisky is valued and noticed by international leaders in the industry,” she said
Oliver Maruda, Co-Founder of TWL congratulated Cookson on the win.
“The entire TWL team is incredibly proud of Emma’s win, validating the incredible work she’s put into making whisky fun and easy to get into. Congratulations Em,” he said.
