Mr Nolan, owner of Circle T Meats at Raceview, has once again flown the flag for Queensland at the 14th Sausage King national finals in Melbourne on Saturday, snagging for the second year in a row victory in the continental sausage category for his Spanish chorizo style creation.

Mr Nolan was the only Queenslander among the six winners.

Three butchers from Victoria took out top awards in the gourmet, Australian lamb and poultry categories, while a South Australian won the traditional Australian and a Tasmanian the poultry.

A specialist in crafting a wide variety of gourmet sausages for his loyal customer base, Mr Nolan is fiercely proud of his 'light on the heat - big on flavour' chorizo.

It took the judges' breath away, he said, not because they were overly spicy, but because of their visual appeal, flavour and texture.

"They are a bright, beautiful red colour - they were the best looking sausage in the room," he said.

Now in its 14th year, the Sausage King competition is run by the Australian Meat Industry Council, shining a much needed spotlight on the skill and marketing ingenuity of the independent butcher network Australia wide.

Mr Nolan said the concept works. He has been entering since 2004 and has been a State finalist three times. He notes that sales spike whenever he does well at the Sausage Kings.

Thirty State Sausage Kings convened in Melbourne on February 4 to contest the six prestigious titles in the national finals after a year of rigorous regional rounds and State finals.

Each finalist hand carried their precious cargo of meticulously prepared, secret recipe prized sausages for judging. Twelve of the best judges in the nation from within the meat industry as well as Australia's top training institutes spent hours scrutinizing, analysing, tasting and savouring dozens of sausages to determine the best of the best.

AMIC chief executive Kevin Cottrill said scoring among the finalists was "incredibly close".

"Each year these sausages get better and better. On one category we had to do a count back to decide our winner," Mr Cottrill said.

The winners this year were:

Jason Mathie, Mathie's Meat Shoppe, Clare, South Australia (Traditional Australian)

Paddy Maginn, Paddy's Meats, Kew, Victoria (Australian Lamb)

Gary Lethborg, Lethborg's Smallgoods, Newstead, Tasmania (Traditional Australian Pork)

Brad Drew, Hillie's Meats, San Remo, Victoria (Poultry)

Barnie Nolan, Circle T Meats, Raceview, Qld (Continental)

Paul Darroch, Top Meats Castlemaine, Castlemaine, Victoria (Gourmet).