The Craft Irish Whiskey Co. made monumental design history this week by winning three of the highest awards from the toughest design competition in the world. The A’Design Awards are highly prestigious and influential design awards, attracting thousands of entries each year from every corner of the globe. Last year, we made history with our first entry, The Devil’s Keep, when it won the highest Gold for Packaging, missing Platinum by 0.1 point and becoming the only whiskey to have ever won such an award. But this year we rewrote that history, becoming the only company in the award’s history to win all four entries with a 100% success rate across subsequent years, when the judging becomes more challenging as you are considered against your previous entries.

The A’Design Awards

The A’Design Awards are the pinnacle of the design world. No other award body brings the same level of recognition and prestige for a designer or company. They attract thousands of entries every year from across the world, and judging is carried out by an illustrious body of 250 industry professionals worldwide. The awards available are Platinum, Gold, Silver, Bronze, Iron, A’Design Award and Runner up Status so achieving Platinum, Gold and Bronze places us in a minority of top winners. 

Taking home a medal for every entry would be historic, but The Craft Irish Whiskey Co. and Tiago Russo have done what no other whiskey company in the history of The A’Design Awards has ever achieved. We were the only Single Malt whisk(e)y producer to win in this year’s awards, with The Emerald Isle winning the highest possible award – Platinum – The Taoscán winning Gold, and The Aodh gaining the honour of becoming the only whiskey in history to ever win a Limited Edition Award. 

These wins cement the reputation of Tiago Russo, The Craft Irish Whiskey Co.’s Chief Design Officer, as the world’s #1 luxury product designer. 

Unlike many awards, The A’Design Awards judge an entry against the company’s previous products, looking for innovation and an elevation of design. So winning in subsequent competitions becomes increasingly difficult. In 2021, The Devil’s Keep became the highest scoring spirit of all time, achieving Gold and missing out on Platinum by just 0.1 points. Entering in 2022 demanded products of an even more exceptional and innovative design. But of course, we’re not a company to rest on our laurels. The technological innovation of the soon-to-be released The Aodh, the exquisite beauty of The Emerald Isle, and the immersive, experiential quality of The Taoscán meant we not only equalled our 2021 win, but went far beyond. 

The Craft Irish Whiskey Co. A’Design Awards

The Emerald Isle: Platinum A’ Design Award Winner for Packaging Design Category

The Emerald Isle, already the world’s most expensive whiskey, can now add another accolade – achieving the maximum score possible to win Platinum from the world’s premier design awards. This score makes The Emerald Isle the No.1 design of the year, and the  highest scoring luxury product of all time.

In the last 13 years of The A’Design Awards, only 50 Platinums have been awarded and in the past few years they’ve become increasingly rare. Not only is The Emerald Isle one of those 50, but it is the only spirit in the history of The A’Design Awards to have ever been awarded the highest honour. 

The Taoscán: Golden A’ Design Award Winner for Packaging Design Category

The Taoscán is the first whiskey to be available to purchase on our website and by the glass in Michelin-starred and Triple A bars and restaurants. Entering the category previously won by The Devil’s Keep was a longshot, given the judges of The A’Design Awards look at previous products and judge entries against those. We needn’t have worried; The Taoscán won the same award as The Devil’s Keep, a high Gold. While it’s a very different design to The Devil’s Keep, the innovative and experiential nature of The Taoscán marks it out as unlike any other whiskey or spirit to be found at the bar. 

The Taoscán was designed and conceived to offer the perfect single serve to the connoisseur of luxury. Visible from 360˚, it includes an expertly designed glass that draws on science and years of research to remove the ethanol vapours that inhibit the appreciation of every layer of flavour. It also includes a metal coaster, copper-handled serving tray, water carafe and pipette, and Obsidian whiskey stones. This concept of an entire elevated whiskey experience in one design has never been attempted before with any spirit, and a sought-after Gold award is testament to the innovative design. Only 1,000 Collector’s Editions of The Taoscán exist, and at just €1200 we don’t expect them to be around for long when news breaks of this award.

The Aodh; Bronze A’ Design Award Winner for Limited Edition and Custom Design Category

Winning Bronze in this exclusive award category places The Aodh in the history books as one of just 35 products in the award’s 13 years of registration to win such an honour. This rare award is often given to dramatic pieces of sculpture or artistic expressions, and has never been awarded to a whiskey. No Platinum or Gold awards were given this year so The Aodh can claim the title as one of the top three ultimate designs of 2022. 

With thousands of entries from across the world, this is an exceptional achievement for our fifth rare release. Even more so when you consider that this whiskey hasn’t even launched yet. It’s currently being offered to The Craft Irish Whiskey Co. and Whiskey & Wealth Club clients, but if any of the 88 bottles remain it will then be released to the public. So stay tuned. 

A hat trick of historic wins

With these monumental wins, The Craft Irish Whiskey Co. has entered the history books as the only whiskey company on earth to win two Golds, the only whiskey company to achieve the perfect score and Platinum, and the only whiskey company to win a rare Limited Edition award. 

It is a truly historic moment, the importance of which can’t be overstated. This is a level of recognition established whiskey companies dream of, but which we’ve achieved in just two years. Not only did we become the only whiskey company in history to win those awards, we were the only Single malt whiskey company deemed worthy of an award in this year’s competition. There can be no doubt that, with these awards, Tiago Russo and The Craft Irish Whiskey Co. have created design history that will be remembered for centuries to come.