A DISTILLERY in the Cotswolds has beaten international competition to win a coveted award in Whisky Magazine's 2018 Icons of Whisky Awards.

The Cotswolds Distillery in Shipston-on-Stour, which only began production of whisky in September 2014, was named named ‘Craft Producer of the Year’ in the awards’ ‘Rest of World’ category, beating the likes of esteemed Japanese whisky artisan Chichibu.

The awards, organised by Whisky Magazine, have run since 2007. This year they were organised into six regions, reflecting the rise of new distilleries outside the traditional whisky producing nations.

Winners from each region will go head to head in March to compete in the global finals.

The distillery also picked up another award in the category "Visitor Attraction Manager of the Year", which went to Alison Dinnie.

Daniel Szor, founder and CEO of the Cotswolds Distillery said: “We are so pleased to have won this award, particularly in the “Rest of World” category of which we are so proud to play a part.

"The World Whisky movement is a very exciting part of the single malt whisky scene, encompassing high quality production from diverse corners of the world like Japan, Taiwan, England, Sweden, Italy, Switzerland, USA etc.

"We have been waiting impatiently to show our whisky to the world and receiving this prestigious award less than six months after the launch of our first whisky release is a wonderful testament to the hard work of our very dedicated team.”