On the back of winning Double Gold at the China Wine & Spirits Award in February, Huntly based Duncan Taylor Scotch Whisky Company has scooped two gold awards at the prestigious San Francisco World Spirits Competition.

Black Bull 12-year-old blended scotch won a gold award, as did The Big Smoke, a blend of malts from Islay.

Chairman of Duncan Taylor Scotch Whisky Co, Euan Shand said, “These are major accolades to win back-to-back and shows that our whiskies can compete on a global level alongside the big players.”

With more than 1850 entries and judged by a panel of 39 established spirits-industry experts, it shows how well the whiskies have done against such fierce competition.

The San Francisco World Spirits Competition took place at the Hotel Nikko and was the largest competition in their 16-year history. Each entry was evaluated and judged in blind tastings, which makes the highly competitive competition the “most reputable and recognised in the spirits industry”.

Euan continued; “Winning Gold at these awards is affirmation of real quality and is not an easy thing to do, yet we picked up two. It’s a team effort and we hope to continue showing how good our whiskies really are on a global stage.”

The Black Bull range was first created in 1864 and is blended to the same formula today as it was back then. Using a large percentage of quality Speyside and Highland malts, they are matured in sherry and bourbon casks. The range includes Kyloe, 12, 21, 30 and 40 year old blends, all with their own unique character.

Big Smoke is a blend of Islay malt whiskies from some of the world’s most iconic distilleries.