Drinks Trade

23rd Street Distillery has been named Australian Distillery of the Year at the 2026 New York International Spirits Competition, backing up its 2025 performance where Vok Beverage brands topped Australia across whisky, rum and brandy. The Renmark-based whisky distillery received 96 points and a Double Gold medal for its Australian Single Malt Whisky flagship, the highest point score of any Australian product and the equal highest whisky score of the international competition.

Drinks Trade's Asian Beverages Guide, published in Winter edition issue #99, began with a spotlight on Asian beer imports. In many ways 'Asian beer' as a category is misleading. Japan has long held a majority stake in Australian brewing and beer distribution, but even if that is separated out, the target markets for, and national identities of, Thailand’s Singha, Indonesia’s Bintang, and Singapore’s Tiger, are far from one and the same. Arguably the one unifying feature is style.

An Australian digital print canning solution has been recognised as a breakthrough innovation for the global drinks industry at the inaugural Asahi Global Supplier Summit. Orora Limited received the Global Breakthrough Innovation Award, one of six available titles, for its Helio innovation launched in August 2025.

Following Chablis and Côte de Nuits, the next stop in my north-to-south journey through Bourgogne was Côte de Beaune. The lower half of the Côte d'Or can again be roughly split into northern and southern communes. It is also perhaps most easily understood as a continuation of Côte de Nuits, with pinot noir styles comparable towards the border but becoming lighter and more perfumed further south, where chardonnay takes centre stage.

Lion beer brand Hahn has returned as the Official Beer of the Wallabies after a 10 year hiatus. The two-year deal with Rugby Australia comes at a time of resurging popularity for the sport following the successful return of the British & Irish Lions Tour to Australia in 2025. Lion CEO and Managing Director Anubha Sahasrabuddhe said: "We couldn’t be prouder to be back in the Wallabies' corner as the inaugural Nations Championship kicks off on home soil.

Matured and bottled inside the former Bank SA building in Mount Pleasant, South Australia, the release is a single-barrel, grain-to-glass bottling made using barley grown locally in Mount Pleasant, malted in the Barossa, and mashed and fermented in the Adelaide Hills. It then returned to the distillery for distillation and was then laid down to rest for 2.5 years in a French oak pinot noir barrel from the Barossa resized to 120 litres and fitted with American oak heads.

A dispute between a leading Queensland hotel operator and ASX-listed gaming company has led to the removal of all TAB betting facilities from Comiskey Group hotels, ending a 20-year partnership.

New look for Mumm Cordon Rouge in Australia and New Zealand Maison Mumm has rebranded its flagship Mumm Cordon Rouge cuvée in Australia and New Zealand. The new look comes ahead of the Champagne's 150th anniversary in 2027 and coincides with ongoing sales growth, with Mumm Cordon Rouge outperforming the broader Champagne category in both markets over the past 12 months.

Coopers Brewery has launched a new DIY brew kit designed for homebrewers living in smaller households. The new product brews 10 litres of beer, less than half of the standard 23-litre DIY brew kit, taking up much less space and catering to the national trend of smaller, more affordable housing.

New legislation has come into effect making price gouging illegal for supermarkets with annual turnovers of $30 million or higher. This currently only applies to Coles and Woolworths, with the legislation exclusively for standard supermarket food and groceries. This means alcohol and food and drinks made for immediate consumption, such as coffees made by supermarket baristas, are exempt.