Key Points:
- ASW Distillery and Minhwa Spirits received high awards in November at The Tasting Alliance’s World Spirits Competition in San Francisco.
- Established in 2001, the World Spirits Competition is known as the “Oscars of the booze world.”
- Minhwa Spirits’ Yong soju won Best in Class in the soju category, while ASW Distillery’s Fiddler Encore Finished Bourbon line won Best in Class in the small batch bourbon (6-10 years) category.
Atlanta-based ASW Distillery and Doraville-based Minhwa Spirits received high awards earlier this month at The Tasting Alliance’s World Spirits Competition in San Francisco. Established in 2001, the World Spirits Competition is known as the “Oscars of the booze world.”
The Yong soju from Minhwa Spirits won Best in Class in the soju category. It’s the first soju in America, as well as the first soju outside of Korea, to win the category.
But this was not Minhwa’s first accolade from The Tasting Alliance. Yong soju won double gold in the category at the 2024 and 2025 World Spirits Competition, which made it eligible for the Best in Class award.
Minhwa Spirits opened in Doraville last fall and functions as both a distillery (jumak) and pop-up restaurant incubator with a coffee shop.
Related Story: Add these Atlanta-made gins and sojus to your home bar
ASW Distillery’s Fiddler Encore Finished Bourbon line won Best in Class in the small batch bourbon (6-10 years) category. This was ASW Distillery’s second Best in Class award, the first being Maris Otter Single Malt Whiskey for best craft whiskey in 2020. Additionally, the Red X Single Malt Whiskey was a top three finalist for best single malt in 2023.
ASW Distillery’s Fiddler Encore, Fiddler Toasted Rye, and Riddler Chin Music Toasted Bourbon have previously won double gold or platinum awards, while Fiddler Toasted Bourbon, Fiddler Soloist Bourbon, and Fiddler Georgia Heartwood Bourbon have previously won five gold medals.
ASW Distillery debuted on Armour Drive in 2018 and has since added tasting room locations at the Battery Atlanta in Cobb County and Lee & White in West End. Earlier this year, ASW Distillery opened Flights & Bites on Concourse B at Hartsfield-Jackson Atlanta International Airport.
The Tasting Alliance and the San Francisco International Wine Competition were founded by Anthony Dias Blue in 1980. The Tasting Alliance also holds annual spirits competitions for Asia, Latin America, and New York, as well as the San Francisco Ready to Drink Competition and a design competition.
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