One of the founding staff members of Hellyers Road Distillery has been named a ‘World Whisky Icon’.
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Sharon Deane received the honour at the 2018 Icons of Whisky awards in London this week.
The awards bring together the best spirit brands and industry leaders in the world and Mrs Deane said she was very humbled to have been recognised by her peers.
Mrs Deane also thanked the Hellyers Road Distillery team she worked with through her role as manager of the visitor centre in Burnie.
“This award is attributable to the outstanding team we have working for us at Hellyers Road Distillery,” she said.
“It could not have been achieved without their support.”
Mrs Deane has worked for Hellyers Road Distillery for almost two decades as well as its parent company, Betta Milk.
Master distiller Mark Littler said Mrs Deane was a “very passionate” and “very dedicated” employee.
“It [the World Whisky Icon award] is a massive result for the Burnie visitor centre and its hardworking team that is led very ably by Sharon,” Mr Littler said.
“Sharon has overseen the growth of the visitor centre from its humble beginnings when we launched in 2006, to now welcoming over 40,000 visitors each year.”
Mrs Deane’s accolade wasn’t the only honour bestowed on Hellyers Road Distillery this week.
The North-West company also picked up two awards at the Australian Distilled Spirit Awards in Melbourne on Thursday night.
Hellyers Road’s Slightly Peated 10 Year Single Malt was named the 2018 Champion Whiskey while its Master Series Original 15 Year Whisky won a gold medal.
Mr Littler said it was “huge” to be recognised as producing an Australia Champion Whisky.
The awards are the latest in a suite of accolades won by Hellyers Road Distillery including three medals at the World Whisky Awards and the honour of being named 2017 Tasmanian Exporter of the Year.
Mr Littler said the awards all tied back to everybody who worked at Hellyers Road Distillery.
“Whether they’re involved in the distillery or bottling, or whether they’re working with our brand ambassadors in the cafe or preparing our food …. everyone buys into the fact that we want to create a world class whisky business,” he said.