This $90 Australian Whisky Just Won Gold At The 2026 Australian International Spirits Awards

• Bird Blended Malt Whiskey has won Best Blended Malt Whisky at the 2026 Melbourne Royal Australian International Spirits Awards.
• The $90 South Australian bottle was the only gold medallist among eight entries in its class.
• Fleurieu Distillery also won Best Australian Single Malt Whisky with Tapestry, giving the producer both malt-whisky trophies.

Good whisky doesn’t always need an age statement, a locked cabinet or a nervous conversation with the missus about why you need several hundred dollars to buy an award-winning Australian whisky.

In the case of Bird Blended Malt Whiskey, $90 should just about do it.

The collaboration between Bird in Hand and Fleurieu Distillery has been named Best Blended Malt Whisky at the 2026 Melbourne Royal Australian International Spirits Awards. It was the only gold medallist among the eight blended malts entered, with the remaining bottles receiving five silver and two bronze medals.

Sitting below $100, Bird is also one of the few trophy-winning Australian whiskies that casual drinkers and whisky enthusiasts can both take a chance on without feeling the pinch. The blended malt launched in October 2025 as the cheaper, easier-going sibling to Bird’s original single malt and remains available directly through Bird in Hand in a 700ml bottle.

What Is Bird Blended Malt Whiskey?

Bird was co-founded by Mark Bouris, Andrew Nugent and Paul Giles, with South Australia’s Fleurieu Distillery listed as the official entrant behind the winning bottle.

First, the product naming is worth getting straight. Bird Single Malt came first, but the bottle that won in Melbourne this year is Bird Blended Malt Whiskey.

At $90 for 700ml, the blended malt was probably aiming for a different kind of drinking occasion. That doesn’t mean the producers have stripped the whisky back to make it cheaper.

Bird says it was predominantly matured in bourbon casks and complemented by Apera-finished whiskey, which Bird says pushes it towards the brighter, softer end of the range rather than the heavier profile of the original single malt.

Bird Blended Malt Whiskey Key Stats

• Whisky: Bird Blended Malt Whiskey
• Producers: Bird in Hand and Fleurieu Distillery, South Australia
• Style: Blended malt whiskey
• Casks: Predominantly bourbon, complemented by Apera-finished whiskey
• ABV: Not disclosed by the producer
• Bottle size: 700ml
• Price: AUD $90
• Released: October 2025
• Award: Best Blended Malt Whisky, 2026 Melbourne Royal Australian International Spirits Awards
• Availability: Direct from Bird in Hand

Notes On Bird Blended Malt Whiskey

The producer lists citrus and cream on the nose, followed by baked shortbread, vanilla and barley sugar on the palate, with buttery cream and honey through the finish. We haven’t had a glass ourselves, but the profile lines up with how Bouris described it to Drinks Trade: a whisky with a more “easy-going character”.

Giles reckons it’s a smooth, sincere whiskey “made for sharing”, which is a much easier bottle to open at $90 than it would be at $200.

For those looking to step it up a notch, the original Bird Single Malt is available at the other end of the range. It costs $200 for a smaller 500ml bottle and is matured in Apera barriques and bourbon casks, then briefly finished in a Bird in Hand Chardonnay cask.

Bird says this is the one for special occasions, with brandied fruit, Christmas pudding, allspice and maple running through its official tasting notes.

The blended malt is certainly less precious, considerably easier on the wallet, but now it’s carrying the category trophy, making it worth celebrating.

Fleurieu Won Both Malt-Whisky Trophies

Bird’s win was only half the whisky story for Fleurieu Distillery.

Its own Tapestry expression was named Best Australian Single Malt Whisky, giving the Goolwa producer both malt-whisky category trophies at this year’s awards.

Tapestry sits at a very different point in Fleurieu’s range. The 45.2 per cent ABV single malt is made by integrating bourbon barrels with Apera barriques, with Fleurieu pointing to walnut shell, florals and sweet oak spice, while the malt carries more of the body and palate.

It is also limited to 850 individually numbered 700ml bottles and currently sells for $185.

Bird is clearly one you can put on the table without turning each pour into a financial event. Tapestry is probably the bottle you’re more likely to measure before your mates arrive.

Fleurieu hasn’t suddenly stumbled into both malt-whisky trophies. The 2026 trophy joins an awards record that was already building. Tapestry won Best in Class at the Tasting Australia Spirit Awards in both 2023 and 2024, alongside gold medals at those competitions and at the 2024 Melbourne Royal Spirits Awards.

It just so happens that they also had the $90 Bird, which became the only gold medallist in its class.

What Is Apera?

Apera is the Australian name used for fortified wines made in the styles once sold locally as sherry.

Much like when we switched from champagne to sparkling, Australian producers stopped using “sherry” after the Australia–European Community Wine Agreement protected several European wine terms.

In response, the local industry introduced Apera as its replacement, with “sherry” protected from Australian use from September 2011. Wine Australia now restricts the use of the Apera name to qualifying Australian fortified wines.

The name may be less familiar, but the casks have become a useful part of Australian whisky production. In whisky, an Apera barrique is a barrel that previously held the fortified wine. Fortified wine can leave behind fruit, nut, sweetness and spice in the wood, giving distillers another way to shape the spirit once those barrels are emptied.

An Apera-finished whisky is slightly different because it doesn’t spend its full maturation in the barrel. The whisky is transferred into an ex-Apera cask towards the end of the process to add another layer of flavour, the same move Sullivans Cove made on its $2,500 24-year-old American Oak Apera Finish.

The distinction shows up across all three whiskies. Bird’s blended malt contains an Apera-finished component, while the original Bird Single Malt was matured in Apera barriques and bourbon casks. Fleurieu’s Tapestry was created by integrating whisky from bourbon barrels with whisky from Apera barriques.

How Is the Competition Judged?

The Melbourne Royal Australian International Spirits Awards attracted more than 1,000 entries from more than 250 exhibitors in 2026.

Entries were judged blind, with appearance, nose, palate, balance and finish scored out of 100. Only spirits awarded a gold medal were reconsidered for their respective category trophies.

That blind format removes the label, price and founder from the equation. Judges assess what is in the glass rather than whether the bottle carries a familiar name, an expensive presentation box or Mark Bouris on the list of co-founders.

Bird was the only blended malt in its class to make that cut.

As for other Australian distillers, Archie Rose completed the major local whisky results by winning Best Grain Whisky with its sub-$100 Rye Malt Whisky. Elsewhere, Dwayne Johnson’s Teremana Añejo was named Best Tequila or Agave Spirit, Never Never’s Triple Juniper won Best London Dry Gin and St Agnes XO 15YO took Best Brandy.

All worthy results, but most drinkers aren’t scrolling through more than 1,000 entries looking for a bottle to take home. They’re looking for something good, available and unlikely to require a discussion with the household finance committee.

Bird now ticks all three boxes.

Award wins have a habit of making whisky harder to find and a touch more expensive at the bottle-o. For now, at least, this one has made a relatively affordable Australian blended malt much easier to notice.

Full List of Winners at the 2026 Australian International Spirits Awards

Below is the full list of champion, category, consistency and Best in Class winners from the 2026 Melbourne Royal Australian International Spirits Awards.

Champion Trophy Winners

• Champion Large Australian Distiller: St Agnes Distillery, South Australia
• Champion Medium Australian Distiller: Nil Desperandum Rum, Queensland
• Champion Small Australian Distiller: Maidenii, Victoria
• Champion International Distiller: Distillerie Bonne Mère, Guadeloupe, France
• Champion Australian Nomad Distiller: Island Coast Spirits, Tasmania
• Champion Victorian Distiller: Maidenii, Victoria

Champion Category Winners

• Champion Australian Gin: Triple Juniper Gin, Never Never Distilling Co, South Australia
• Champion Victorian Gin: Australian Dry Gin, Daylesford Spirit Distillery, Victoria

Consistency of Excellence Awards

• Rye Malt Whisky: Archie Rose Distilling Co, New South Wales
• All Seasons Gin Liqueur: Imbue Distillery, Victoria
• Troppo Yuzu Gin: Northern Distilling, Northern Territory
• Hazelnut & Macadamia Liqueur: Prohibition Liquor Co., South Australia

Whisky

• Best Australian Single Malt Whisky: Tapestry, Fleurieu Distillery, South Australia
• Best Blended Malt Whisky: Bird, Bird in Hand and Fleurieu Distillery, South Australia
• Best Grain Whisky: Rye Malt Whisky, Archie Rose Distilling Co, New South Wales

Gin

• Best London Dry Gin: Triple Juniper Gin, Never Never Distilling Co, South Australia
• Best New World / Contemporary Gin: Troppo Yuzu Gin, Northern Distilling, Northern Territory
• Best Navy Gin: Man O’ War, Hold Fast Distillery, New South Wales
• Best Fruit or Wine/Grape Gin: Strawberries & Cream Gin, Brogan’s Way Distillery, Victoria
• Best Other Gin: Old Tom Gin, Ester Spirits, New South Wales
• Best Gin & Tonic: Traditional Dry Gin, Bunker Distillery, New South Wales

Vodka

• Best Unflavoured Vodka: Midnight Vodka, Saint Felix Distillery, Victoria
• Best Flavoured Vodka: SUNCHASER Dirty Vodka, Oakburn Distillery, Victoria

Brandy, Rum & Cane Spirits

• Best Brandy: St Agnes XO – 15YO, St Agnes Distillery, South Australia
• Raymond B ‘Spike’ Dessert III Trophy for Best Rum: The Triple Six, Nil Desperandum Rum, Queensland
• Best Cane Spirit: Virgin Cane Spirit, Burdekin Rum, Queensland

Tequila & Agave

• Best Tequila or Agave Spirit: Teremana Tequila Añejo, Destilería Teremana de Agave, Jalisco, México

Liqueurs, Bitters & Alternative Spirits

• Best Liqueur: Caretaker’s Cottage Black Forest, Marionette, Victoria
• Best Alternative Spirit: Absinthe Verte, Cedar Fox Distilling Co., Victoria
• Best Bitter or Vermouth: Alternativo Aperitivo, Ester Spirits, New South Wales

Ready to Serve

• Best Ready to Serve Cocktail: Pornstar Martini, Good George Distilling Co., Waikato, New Zealand
• Best Ready to Serve Pre-Mix or Spritz: Cipriani White Peach Bellini, Cipriani Bellini, Italy

Design

• Best Design: Single Cask, Timbertide, Western Australia

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