The Alabama guys who came up with the ingenious idea to put Bushwacker in a bottle have taken top honors at an influential international spirits competition.

Bushwacker Coconut Rum Cream — a bottled, premixed liqueur that takes the hassle out of mixing the creamy, boozy beach cocktail — has been selected Best in Class in the Ready-to-Drink category at the 2024 San Franciso World Spirits Competition.

“I’m going to say there were at least 300 to 500 probably in our category, and it basically says we were the top one of all those, of the ready-to-drink rum cocktails,” Bushwacker Spirits co-founder Michael Smith tells AL.com.

The Bushwacker liqueur also won a Double Gold Medal in that same Ready-to-Drink category.

“What double gold means is that every judge that tasted our gave it the highest award, which a gold medal,” Smith explains. “Nobody voted it below gold medal.

“The double gold is awesome,” he adds. “It’s not exactly easy to get that, especially in a ready-to-drink (category) like this. But the Best in Class, that’s kind of a blow-me-out-of-the-water (surprise), and it’s going to open up a lot of doors for us.”

The San Francisco World Spirits Competition judges gave the Bushwacker Coconut Rum Cream an overall score of 96 out of a possible 100 points.

RELATED: Meet the Alabama guys who’ve put Bushwacker in a bottle

Smith and his business partner Carter Echols – who grew up together in the small Alabama town of Linden in Marengo County – launched their “Bushwacker in a bottle” in 2020.

“We found out that many people have had the idea to put Bushwacker in a bottle over the last 30 years, for the same reason that we did,” Smith said in a previous interview with AL.com.

“It’s four or five different ingredients depending on which recipe you’re using, and you can’t always find them. We were like, ‘This needs to be in a bottle.’ So, that spurred the idea.”

Despite the distribution challenges of starting a brand in the thick of the COVID-19 pandemic, they got their Bushwacker Coconut Rum Cream in about 300 stores by the end of 2020.

Their Bushwacker liqueur – which is sold in 750-milliliter bottles and 50-millileter miniature bottles – is currently available in 17 states and in Puerto Rico, Smith says.

The recognition from the San Francisco World Spirits Competition should help grow the brand into other states, as well as countries outside the United States, he adds.

“For our expansion efforts, to get this out to every state and into new countries and territories, we’re able to go to those representatives and pitch that we are the best in our category,” Smith says.

The 2024 San Francisco World Spirts Competition awards will be presented at a black-tie industry event in San Francisco in October.