More accolades for Amber Lane

Central Coast whisky distillery Amber Lane has been named the nation’s top whisky producer at the 2025 Royal Australian Spirits Awards (RASA).

The distillery’s world-renowned Equinox expression was named Australia’s best whisky for 2025 at the Adelaide awards late last week, receiving the Bintani Australia Trophy for Champion Whisky.

In a major coup for the distillery, Equinox also received the Champion Spirit of Show trophy, making it the nation’s best distilled spirit for 2025.

With a score of 18.7 out of 20, Equinox was also named the best small batch distilled spirit of the show and received a gold medal. 

Other Amber Lane releases also starred, with Silk Lane, Sherry Lane and the yet-to-be-released 2025 Noble Lane all receiving silver medals.

Equinox is one of Amber Lane’s most popular small-batch expressions, well-known for capturing the magical moment where ex-sherry and ex-bourbon casks are in perfect balance. 

Its nose of honeyed pastries, baklava, rose water and toffee gives way to a richly opulent taste of raisins, honey cinnamon, vanilla and cola.

The RASA wins take Amber Lane’s overall gold medal haul to 28, including four gold medals for Equinox, with recognition also at the 2025 International Wine and Spirits Competition, the 2024 Royal Sydney Distilled Spirits Show and the 2023 Australian International Spirits Awards.

This is Amber Lane’s third consecutive year winning gold at RASA and second year in a row as a major trophy winner – a rare feat for any distillery.

In the past two years, Amber Lane has won five major champion trophies in Australian competitions.

Recognising the success of Australia’s ever-growing craft spirits industry, RASA is open to distillers from across Australia and New Zealand, with classes for brandy, gin, rum, vodka, whisky and other spirits.

With the awards now in their sixth year, entries are judged on appearance, aroma, flavour and overall impression by some of the nation’s spirits experts.

This year’s entries showcased both the strength and diversity of the Australian spirits industry, with the judging panel noting the increasing depth across the whisky classes.

Amber Lane Distillery co-founder Rod Berry said the RASA results cemented Amber Lane’s status as Australia’s best whisky producer.

“We’re incredibly proud to see our Central Coast distillery named as the top whisky producer for the year – it’s outstanding recognition of our efforts and of our ongoing contribution to the region’s food and beverage industry,” he said.

“An equinox occurs when day and night are of equal length, due to the passage of the sun across the celestial equator.

“It’s a really special, magical moment in time, where everything is aligning for us, and I feel like these awards are our equinox.

“They represent a milestone in our whisky-making journey and celebrate our continued dedication and uncompromising diligence.”

Amber Lane whiskies are available via www.amberlanedistillery.com, along with a range of independent bottle shops and select Dan Murphys stores.