Alberta distillery takes home best new spirit prize at World Whiskies Awards

globalnews.ca:

A young Alberta distillery just took home a huge title at the World Whiskies Awards in London, England, beating out submissions from Scotland, Ireland, Japan and the U.S.

Anohka Distillery won “World’s Best New Make & Young Spirit” for its “This is Not Whisky” heavily peated single malt spirit.

“The competition this year was really interesting because there were really famous distillers,” said Gurpreet Ranu, Anohka owner and distiller. “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.”

In order to qualify for the world awards, spirits have to win their national competition. This is the second year Anohka has been nominated at the World Whiskies Awards.

“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,” he 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.”

Ranu is a physicist turned lawyer turned distiller who started Anohka Distillery on a farm in Parkland County, about 40 kilometres west of Edmonton, in December 2021. The operation grows its own barley and has its own peat bog.

“Alberta grows more barley than any country in the western hemisphere and we happen to be in the best barley growing conditions