Four Pillars wins inaugural ‘Green’ award at IWSC

Australian distillery Four Pillars has won the inaugural Green Spirit Initiative Award at the world’s biggest spirits awards, the International Wine and Spirits Competition.

The award was open to distilleries, producers and spirits companies across the globe and was created to highlight the work being carried out to improve environmental credentials.

The Four Pillars distillery in Healesville, Victoria, was awarded the global prize as a result of its efforts over recent years to minimise waste and save energy, and follows the construction of its newly-expanded distillery ‘Healesville 2.0’. This building uses progressive sustainable initiatives that include cooling veils and pineapple leather, as well as solar and a massive reduction in glass wastage.

In March 2022, Four Pillars became Australia’s first certified Carbon Neutral gin distilling business with both the new distillery itself and all the gins bottled on the premises certified Carbon Neutral.

The Trophy was accepted by Four Pillars Co-Founder and Distiller, Cameron Mackenzie, and Four Pillars Operations Director, Michelle Hall, at the gala awards night in London.

“This is a huge day for Four Pillars, and in so many ways one of the proudest days in our short history,” Mackenzie said.

“When we started making gin in 2013, we always wanted to be as sustainable as we could but distilling uses a lot of energy, glass and waste, [and] we recognise that. But over the past three years and most particularly with the brilliant work from Michelle with help from the sustainability team at Lion, our incredible architects Breathe, and just sheer inventiveness and willpower, we have arrived here.

“In many ways we want this to be an award not just for us but for the whole of Australian distilling. If we have the desire, resourcefulness and belief, we can become a really responsible and environmentally friendly industry that also happens to make the world’s best drinks.”

Four Pillars Gin was established in 2013 in the Yarra Valley on the outskirts of Melbourne. It was awarded International Gin Producer of the Year in 2019 and 2020 by the IWSC. Four Pillars is distributed in New Zealand by Tickety-Boo.