Margarett Waterbury named Alan Lodge Award 2017 winner

The Whiskey Wash managing editor Margarett Waterbury has been named 2017 Alan Lodge Young Drinks Writer of the Year, the first winner under an expanded format for the competition.

Margarett Waterbury is the 2017 Alan Lodge Young Drinks Writer of the Year recipient

The Oregon-based writer was chosen by an independent panel of judges who praised her ability to explain complex subjects with warmth and wit.

Waterbury was announced as winner at The Drinks Business Awards 2017 which took place at the London Wine Fair yesterday [23 May].

Drinks writers aged under 35 years from around the world were invited to submit three pieces of writing published in print or online from 1 January to 31 December 2016.

For the first time, young writers from the wine and beer sectors were welcome to participate alongside their spirits and cocktail counterparts.

The 2017 judging panel comprised Olly Wehring, editor of Just-Drinks, Emily Harris, director of May Fox Communications, and Marcin Miller, founder of Quercus Communications and co-founder of Number One Drinks.

Waterbury is a graduate from Reed College and holds a degree in Linguistics. She has worked as a freelance copywriter since 2008, and in addition to her responsibilities at The Whiskey Wash she also serves as managing editor at Edible Portland.

She impressed the judging panel with a piece on Clear Creek Distillery in Oregon, a feature called The Curious Case of Black Maple Hill Whiskey, and a review of Gold Bar Gold Finished Whiskey.

The Alan Lodge Young Drinks Writer of the Year was launched in 2012 in memory of Alan Lodge, the late deputy editor of The Spirits Business.

Previous recipients include Hamish Smith, deputy editor of Drinks International, Laura Foster, assistant editor of Square Meal and Imbibe, Amy Hopkins, deputy editor at The Spirits Business, and Tyler Wetherall, a US-based freelance writer.