by Kristen Wile

Oaklore Distilling Co. was awarded gold medals for two of its whiskeys in this year’s San Francisco World Spirits Competition. The Matthews-based distillery’s Four Grain Bourbon Whiskey and N.C. Straight Rye Whiskey earned the honors.

“We at Oaklore have always put quality first — doing everything we can to produce whiskeys that we can be proud of,” says Jack Shute, Oaklore’s Vice President of Sales and Commercial Operations. “We are doing this because we know North Carolina has an opportunity to create something special for the whiskey community, and getting such positive feedback from peers in this great industry allows us to continue to believe in ourselves, and fuels our desire to keep pushing boundaries.”

Both Oaklore offerings are available at Mecklenburg County ABC stores. You can also purchase bottles at the distillery, which has a tasting room and bar open to the public daily. See tasting notes on the spirits here.

The San Francisco World Spirits Competition is an annual event that is popular with both small, craft distilleries like Oaklore as well as bigger brands. Colonel E.H. Taylor Small Batch, for example, a popular Buffalo Trace product, also won a gold medal, as did high-end Buffalo Trace Antique Collection label William Larue Weller. The highest medals awarded this year were double golds; no spirits garnered platinum recognition. Medals include, from low to high, bronze, silver, gold, double gold, and platinum.

Oaklore is the only Charlotte-area distillery on the awards list this year. Last year, Southern Distilling Co. earned a double gold for its Paragon whiskey, along with several other medals. See this year’s full list of medals here.