Royal Queensland Distilled Spirit Awards open for entries

Entries are now open for the Royal Queensland Distilled Spirit Awards, with judging to take place in July.

Now in its second year, the 2025 competition has introduced a new category, the Alternative Spirit class, which will accommodate spirits that don’t fit within traditional classifications, such as agave-based spirits, schnapps, absinthe, bitters, vermouth, and unaged whisky. 

Chief Judge and Archie Rose Master Distiller, Dave Withers, says: “One of the amazing opportunities we have in making spirits in Australia are flexible definitions and legislation that supports innovation.

“This new category really allows producers to put those fabulous but hard to define products up for judging. I have judged similar categories before and they can be really inspirational – distillers have so much creativity and this is a category that supports that freedom of expression.”

Dave, who was a judge at last year’s inaugural awards, returns to head a panel of industry experts to assess entries across whisky, gin, vodka, rum/cane spirit and more.

Having scooped numerous awards himself, such as Gin Distiller of the Year at the Icons of Gin Awards, Dave says he is honoured to take on the new role.

“To be chief judge means a lot to me – I understand the amount of work that producers put into each bottle of spirit, so to be entrusted with reviewing these spirits alongside my fellow judges is something I take seriously and am excited about,” Dave stated.

Royal Queensland Distilled Spirits Advisory Group member Sarah Andrew said the competition will set a high standard when it comes to judging.

“By bringing together both technical and stylistic judges from across the country, distillers can be reassured that judging covers all aspects of a spirit through to quality assessment,” she said.

“Where appropriate, detailed feedback is provided to enable distillers to address any particular area of production or simply keep producing their highly awarded spirit.”

Entries for the Royal Queensland Distilled Spirit Awards are now open, here, closing on 6 June 2025.