The 2025 San Francisco World Spirits Competition (SFWSC) has selected five Australian whiskies as finalists for the World’s Best Australian Single Malt Whisky.
The competition is judged by a panel of spirits professionals who taste each product blindly. The top finalists are:
- Headlands Distilling Co., Illawarra Plum Cask Whisky.
- Archie Rose Distilling Co. Single Malt Whisky.
- Starward Single Barrel Captain’s Pick #2.
- Starward Single Barrel #8193.
- Callington Mill Distillery Pedro Ximénez Single Malt Whisky.
Setting the industry standard for excellence, Australian distillers also took home 18 Double Gold medals at the competition.
“The San Francisco World Spirits Competition is a huge platform to showcase our craft. It’s one of the world’s most respected spirits competitions,” said founder of Callington Mill Distillery John Ibrahim.
“We’re incredibly proud to see our whiskies earning recognition at a global level, particularly at a time as we’re expanding our footprint both in Australia and internationally.”
Medal winners at SFWSC, ranging from large distilleries to small-batch producers, have gained global recognition, such as Starward whisky in 2024, which won the title of ‘Most Awarded International Distillery of the Year’.
“It is incredibly thrilling to have this recognition from a highly competitive global competition, across all spirit categories,” Starward founder David Vitale said.
“It is the Olympics of the international spirits industry, and our Melbourne-made whisky has taken top honour.
“With this recognition, it is absolutely plausible that the Australian whisky industry could be as big internationally as Japanese whisky, which would be a massive boon for our export industry.”
The Best in Class and Best in Show winners will be announced later this year at The Tasting Alliance’s annual gala.