This year, BevNET moved our coverage even deeper into spirits, RTD cocktails and a new generation of “adult” non-alcoholic drinks. It’s only fitting that we expand our awards to honor the work of entrepreneurs pushing these categories to new heights.
We are proud to present the winners of BevNET’s 2024 Best Spirits Awards, a group that is reshaping and reimagining consumers’ relationship with alcohol and its zero-proof alternatives with style, personality and persistence. BevNET honors the companies, brands, individuals, products, ideas and trends that have helped drive inspiration and growth across the industry over the last 12 months.
View the Full List of 2024 Nominees.
Spirits Company of the Year
Uncle Nearest
Fawn Weaver, founder and CEO of the largest Black-owned distillery, kept her foot on the gas this year – and so did her team. While Uncle Nearest reached into another new category by acquiring Square One Organic Spirits, master distiller Victoria Eady Butler expanded deeper into whiskey with a lower-proof bottle and a seven-year blend (which was released alongside Weaver’s book chronicling the untold story of America’s first Black master distiller and Butler’s great-great-grandfather). Lucia Creed, head of trade advocacy, also launched a unique trade mentorship program investing in bartenders selected from areas outside traditional ‘major market’ cities, where access to guidance from influential figures is less readily available.
Spirits Leader of the Year
Gilbert Marquez, Global Brand Ambassador, Ilegal Mezcal
Gilbert Marquez is a trailblazer in bringing Mexican craftsmanship to the rest of the world. As Ilegal Mezcal’s Global Brand Ambassador, Marquez has been front and center of the ever-growing mezcal category, helping to develop spirit programs for countless bars in the U.S. and Mexico. After Bacardi’s acquisition this year, he’s also helped keep focus on culture and craftsmanship via a CBS News’ 60 Minutes episode on the fourth-generation producers behind Ilegal, who have a ten-year agreement to continue creating expressions for the spirit giant.
Best Non-Alcoholic Cocktails
Aplós Ume Spritz
A unique take on the cocktail of the hour, Aplós infused this NA cocktail with hemp and threw in oroblanco grapefruit, white tea, sea buckthorn, and a distinct sweet and sour play – ume plum.
De Soi Spritz Italiano
This is not your Italian grandmother’s Spritz: Katy Perry’s adaptogen-rich aperitif is giving ruby red grapefruit but dressed up in classic Spritz colors and it looks (and tastes) beautiful over ice.
Ghia Le Fizz
Ghia has been a standout NA option since it launched, and this sweet and refreshingly tart multi-serve concoction represents the opportunity for a new celebratory occasion from the brand. Led by strawberry and orange blossom notes, Le Fizz is satisfying on its own or as a base for bartenders to experiment with.
Best RTD Wine-Based
BeatBox Orange Blast
Crafted for the festival-goers reaching for the nostalgia of summer’s glory days in the guise of a punch of juicy orange, this 11.1% ABV party-fave surpassed $1 million in sales within its first three months despite hitting the shelves in October. Long live hot orange summer?
SummerFall Sake
SummerFall is one of several sparkling sake RTD cocktails that have appeared on shelves in recent years, but this one boasts simple ingredients like California rice and wine fermentation methods with the charge of spreading the founder’s vision of “sake for everyone.” With breezy branding and a fresh taste, we’re excited to see what this modern take on Japan’s national spirit can do.
Best RTD Spirits-Based
Hella Cocktail Co
Margaritas – there are many. But Hella Cocktail Co delivered on its first foray into ABV products with an unfussy classic as well as two culturally attuned SKUs – habanero and pineapple – all with a dash of the company’s flagship bitters.
DIO Cocktails Grapefruit Basil Paloma
If we’re in our premium canned cocktail golden age, DIO’s stunning, high-end label design puts us in our extra era. The canned cocktail joins other high-ABV cans offering quality ingredients but adds unexpected riffs on the classics like adding earthy basil notes to a Paloma.
Best Ready-to-Serve Cocktail
Hoste Mezcal Negroni Cocktail
We didn’t want to like an $80 bottled cocktail, but this one tastes like it’s been poured straight from the bartender’s mixing glass to your drinking glass. This well-balanced cocktail from Chicago masterminds combines Paquera artisanal mezcal, sweet vermouth, tamarind liqueur, mole bitters, and includes an orange zest atomizer so its patrons can be lazy and still play fancy mixologist.
Via Carota Sparkling Range
Ready-to-Serve has gotten a glow-up in the last few years (or in other words, it’s been on a premiumization run), and no one illustrates that better than the celeb-adored West Village restaurant cocktail brand. The new sparkling cocktails sold on their own or in a variety pack include a Negroni Sbagliato and White White Negroni Sbagliato, Spritz, Paloma and French 75, and are well-balanced, elevated and packaged in gorgeous signature glass bottles.
Best Non-Alc Spirit
Tomonotomo Agave Spirit
Non-alc distilled spirits are in an exciting era as entrepreneurs get more creative with source ingredients and production methods, and this craft non-alc spirit from a former bartender is leading the charge. Made with 100% Tobala agave sourced from the mountains and roasted in a pit oven in Oaxaca, Tomonotomo is also distilled with local botanicals, making this the closest thing to mezcal without the ABV.
Lapo’s Aperitivo
The NA aperitivo space is the one to watch, and Lapo’s is the Campari-replacement that might not actually taste like Campari but that’s okay: the bitterness is milder, and we love that its got citrus, warm spices and rhubarb notes, making this NA bottle great for spritzing or enjoying as a digestif.