Awards & Recognition
Internationally awarded. Locally made.
Awards & Recognition
We're not the biggest. We're not the oldest. And we deliberately do things differently than the rest.
Yet since 2020, BUS Whisky has been winning medal after medal — from London to San Francisco, from Hong Kong to Shanghai. We're the first Dutch whisky distillery ever to receive B Corp certification and rank among the ten most sustainable whisky producers in the world.
In short
- B Corp™ certified (2025) — as the 1st Dutch whisky distillery and 10th worldwide
- B Impact Score: 89.2 (median at certification: 80)
- Gold — Global Green Awards, Hong Kong (2021)
- Gold — China Wine & Spirits Awards
- Gold — Asian Wine & Spirits Competition
- Gold — Asia Wine & Spirits Challenge 2023, Hong Kong (Russian Imperial Stout finish)
- Silver (2x) — London Spirits Competition (2020 & 2021)
- Bronze — USA Spirits Ratings Competition, San Francisco
- Prestigious sustainability award — The Spirits Business Awards 2024, London
- Finalist — The Spirits Sustainability Awards 2024
- ISO 22000 certified (2025) — international standard for food safety
- SKAL organic certified (2025) — for our own barley cultivation
- National Food100 — list of Dutch food changemakers
- Lonely Planet — featured in a selection of Dutch whisky trips
- Top 5 best Dutch whiskies
- Top 5 most remarkable campervan sites in the Netherlands — ANWB Kampeer & Caravan Kampioen
Certifications
On this page you'll find all our awards, certifications and recognitions in one place. Not to boast, but because we believe independent juries provide better proof than yet another marketing claim.
In 2025, BUS Whisky became the first Dutch whisky distillery certified as a B Corporation. Worldwide, in 2025 only ten whisky producers were allowed to carry this independent seal.
In 2025, BUS Whisky became the first Dutch whisky distillery certified as a B Corporation. Our B Impact Score is 89.2 — well above the median of 80 required for certification. The score is calculated across five pillars: governance, workers, community, environment and customers.
B Corp status means we've been thoroughly assessed — legally and operationally — on whether we truly do what we say: making a positive impact on people and planet, not just on the balance sheet.
Want to know what sets a B Corp whisky apart? Read our B Corp story →
BUS Whisky has been ISO 22000 certified since 2025. This is the international standard for food safety, developed by the International Organization for Standardization. For our growing export activities, this seal is essential.
Since 2025, our brewing barley has been certified organically grown on SKAL-certified land. This means BUS is not only single estate, but now also officially BIO. No artificial fertilizer, no synthetic pesticides, with flower-rich field margins for biodiversity. The whisky distillery itself is also SKAL certified.
- 2024 — International recognition for sustainability
- The Spirits Business Awards 2024 (London) — Prestigious sustainability award. Presented during a black-tie event at the Underglobe Theatre in London, with more than 300 prominent figures from the international spirits industry.
- The Spirits Sustainability Awards 2024 (London) — Finalist, selected from a record number of entries.
- 2023 — Gold for Russian Imperial Stout finish
- Asia Wine & Spirits Challenge 2023, Hong Kong — Gold for BUS Whisky's Russian Imperial Stout finish. One of Asia's most important wine and spirits competitions.
2021 — The breakthrough year
- Global Green Awards, Hong Kong — Gold sustainability medal. As the only whisky in the world, we received a special mention in the "Special Mentions" category, alongside global players such as Rémy Martin and Norway's Feddie Distillery.
- London Spirits Competition — Second silver medal in a row, this time for the PX Octave finish.
- China Wine & Spirits Awards — Gold medal.
- Asian Wine & Spirits Competition — Gold medal.
2020 — First international recognition
- London Spirits Competition — Silver medal for batch #1, judged on taste, quality, value for money and packaging design.
- USA Spirits Ratings Competition, San Francisco — Bronze medal.
Recognition doesn't only come from expert juries. These platforms have also taken notice of BUS:
- Lonely Planet — BUS Whisky was featured by the international travel magazine in a selection of Dutch whisky trips.
- National Food100 — BUS Whisky and sister company De Heische Hoeve appear in the annual list of the 100 most influential food changemakers in the Netherlands.
- Top 5 best Dutch whiskies — Featured multiple times in independent lists of the best whiskies from the Netherlands.
- ANWB Kampeer & Caravan Kampioen — Our campervan site was named one of the five most remarkable mini-campsites in the Netherlands.
- Brabants Dagblad — Culinary reviewer Carla Kentgens wrote: "BUS Whisky is a place with character. Coming back is worth it."
- Eatly.nl — Selected as one of the eight coolest hotel packages in the Netherlands.
- KRO-NCRV Binnenste Buiten — The TV programme visited the barley fields and the whisky distillery for an in-depth feature.
- Trouw, NRC, Elsevier, VMT and De Ondernemer — Featured in national quality media with in-depth articles about our sustainable production.
Why awards actually do matter
Honestly: we're a rebellious brand. We like to go our own way. But international recognition matters — for three reasons.
1. Proof for what we claim. Anyone can call themselves "sustainable" or "artisanal". A gold medal from an independent jury in Hong Kong or San Francisco says more than ten marketing texts.
2. Quality of young whisky. Our whisky is young compared to Scottish icons. The fact that we score internationally despite this age confirms that our ingredients, cask selection and distillation process are on point.
3. A fly on the wall in Scotland. The whisky world is dominated by Scotland, Ireland and Japan. That a farm distillery from Brabant competes at the top level — and wins — is something to be proud of. Not for ourselves, but for Dutch whisky in general.
Frequently asked questions
Yes. BUS Whisky became the first Dutch whisky distillery certified as a B Corporation in 2025. Worldwide, only ten whisky producers hold this certification.
Want to know what sets a B Corp whisky apart? Read our B Corp story →
BUS Whisky won international gold at the Global Green Awards in Hong Kong (2021), the China Wine & Spirits Awards, the Asian Wine & Spirits Competition and the Asia Wine & Spirits Challenge 2023. In addition, silver twice at the London Spirits Competition (2020 and 2021) and bronze at the USA Spirits Ratings Competition in San Francisco. In 2024, BUS received a prestigious sustainability award at The Spirits Business Awards in London.
BUS Whisky has a B Impact Score of 89.2. The median for B Corp certification is 80. The score is determined across five areas: governance, workers, community, environment and customers.
Yes. Since 2025, all BUS Whisky brewing barley has been organically certified on SKAL-certified land. We've been growing without artificial fertilizer and synthetic pesticides ever since we started in 2016, but now it's officially recorded. Since 2025, the whisky distillery has also been officially SKAL certified.
ISO 22000 is the international standard for food safety, developed by the International Organization for Standardization. For BUS Whisky, it means our entire production chain — from barley to bottle — meets globally accepted food safety requirements. This is especially important for our export activities.
Several independent lists rank BUS Whisky among the top 5 best Dutch whiskies. Thanks to its international medals and B Corp status, BUS also stands out as a sustainability leader within the Dutch whisky sector.
Want to taste for yourself what convinced all those juries?
Order a bottle, book a tour, or come dine at our farm restaurant — the whisky distillery is open 7 days a week.