Echuca Distillery has become the first Australian distillery to win two gold medals for their Agave spirits at the San Francisco World Spirits Competition.
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Made from start to finish at the four-year-old distillery, Echuca Distillery's Chilli Lime and Smoked Agave spirits were awarded gold medals, while the Silver and Gold Agave spirits took home silver medals.
The World Spirits Competition in San Francisco is the world's largest and most prestigious event for premium Agave spirits.
Echuca Distillery started operations in 2019 and was around the 80th distillery in the country. Now there are more than 400.
Twin brother owner-operators Peter (head distiller) and David De Vries (operations manager) are on a mission to be at the forefront of this industry from both an innovation and quality perspective.
The brothers were delighted with the recent success in the United States.
"We are really proud of what we have achieved at Echuca Distillery in a relatively short space of time," David said.
He said it was a real vindication of the attention to detail that the distillery puts into the production process.
The brothers are keen to celebrate and share their passion for what they do with as many people as possible.
David said Agave spirit production (including Tequila, Mezcal and Agave spirit) was seeing unprecedented growth globally.
The brothers' backgrounds in the manufacturing of flavours and fragrances - which is something they believe is in their DNA - has enabled them to research and develop what they believe is the perfect mix of ingredients which includes 100 per cent Blue Weber Agave nectar which they import from Mexico.
"Distilling Agave spirit from the nectar is a little like distilling rum from molasses," Peter said.
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"The Agave nectar has a rich, slightly smoky flavour and aroma which we ferment in-house, then twice distill with particular care put into maintaining the flavour and aroma of the Agave spirit," Peter said.
Echuca Distillery only has a small list of stockists around the country, but Bar Lee is its cellar door where people can sample the awarding winning spirits.
Echuca Distillery is the first distillery in Victoria to produce Agave Spirits and carries the largest range of Agave Spirits in Australia, with eight Agave products in all.
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