Judging Bodies
AWARD WINNING SPIRITS RATING
This is our rating and it is designed to pull together, sum up, and average out the awards and ratings each drink has received from the experts and judging bodies below.
We allocate each drink a score between 80 and 100.
SAN FRANCISCO WORLD SPIRITS COMPETITION
The San Francisco World Spirits Competition held its 11th annual competition on March 18th, 19th, and 20th 2011. A record number of entries, 1106 products from 61 countries, were evaluated by 33 of the finest palates from the spirits industry including twelve new judges. These judging panels were comprised of spirits experts from noted restaurants and hotels, well-known spirits journalists from major national media, spirits buyers for large purveyors, and spirits consultants. Judging is based on a blind, consensual procedure ensuring competitive integrity, making this competition the most reputable and recognized competition in the spirits industry.
They award Double Gold, Gold, Silver, and Bronze Medals depending on how good they judge each product to be.
Click here to visit their official website
INTERNATIONAL WINE & SPIRIT COMPETITION
The International Wine and Spirit Competition (IWSC), founded in 1969, aims to promote the quality and excellence of the world's best wines, spirits and liqueurs.
The Competition, which received entries from over 82 countries worldwide this year, involves a rigorous two-stage judging process of professional blind tasting and detailed technical analysis that takes place at The Competition's headquarters in Surrey, UK.
They award a Trophy, Gold, Silver, and Bronze Medals, and Gold or Silver Best in Class Medals, depending on how good they judge each product to be.
Click here to visit their official website
INTERNATIONAL SPIRITS CHALLENGE
The International Spirits Challenge is one of the most authoritative, respected and influential spirits competition in the world. Now in its 16th year, the ISC is the premier event in promoting outstanding quality spirits from across the globe.
The competition is founded on a rigorous and independent judging process, which serves to encourage the high calibre of spirits entered into the competition each year. Receiving more than 1,000 entries from nearly 70 countries worldwide makes the ISC a truly global competition.
They award a Trophy, Gold, Silver, and Bronze Medals depending on how good they judge each product to be.
Click here to visit their official website
BEVERAGE TESTING INSTITUTE
The Beverage Testing Institute uses a dedicated tasting lab in Chicago to make their information as consistent as possible. The room was specially designed to minimize external factors and maximize their panelists’ concentration. They believe that tasting at the same time of day practically every weekday morning, under the same ideal conditions, is far better than working out of a suitcase or at a producer’s facility.
They rely heavily on highly experienced, professional guest tasters who are either retailers, restaurateurs, or prominent writers that are especially knowledgeable about the beverage category being reviewed. All panelists are rigorously screened and audited and then trained in their proprietary blind tasting methodology. Their director, Jerald O’Kennard, moderates the panels.
They score on a 100-point scale with the top four scoring bands translating to:-
96-100 - means the drink is SUPERLATIVE
90-95 - means the drink is EXCEPTIONAL
85-89 - means the drink is HIGHLY RECOMMENDED
80-84 - means the drink is RECOMMENDED
Click here to visit their official website
JIM MURRAY’S WHISKY BIBLE
Jim Murray, an English writer and journalist, is widely regarded as the world’s leading authority on whisky. Since 2003 he has released his book, Jim Murray's Whisky Bible, annually and the 2012 edition has detailed, professionally analysed, and easy to understand tasting notes on over 4,500 of the world’s leading and lesser-known whiskies.
He scores on a 100-point scale with the top five scoring bands translating to:-
80 – 84.5 - means good whisky worth trying.
85 – 89.5 - means very good to excellent whiskies definitely worth buying.
90 – 93.5 - means brilliant.
94 – 97.5 - means superstar whiskies which give us all a reason to live.
98 – 100 - means better than anything he has ever tasted!
Click here to visit his official website
WHISKY ADVOCATE MAGAZINE
An american, John Hansell, is the creator, publisher, and editor of Whisky Advocate Magazine. He, and his expert team of writers, consider all whisky products available for purchase in the United States for evaluation. A special effort is placed on reviewing new products and comparing them to established ones.
Every attempt is made to procure products that are in good condition and unadulterated. To insure this, distillers, importers, and wholesalers are encouraged to submit samples for review.
They score on a 100-point scale with the top three scoring bands translating to:-
95 - 100 - means the whisky is a classic!
90 - 94 - means the whisky is outstanding, one of the best for its style, and distinctive.
80 - 89 - means the whisky is good to very good. Plenty of character and no identifiable flaws.
Click here to visit their official website
WINE ENTHUSIAST MAGAZINE
Wine Enthusiast Magazine, established in 1988, has grown to become the world’s largest periodical devoted to wine and spirits. They have a database of over 100,000 wine and spirits reviews and ratings which has been built up by their panel of tasting experts who are located throughout the world.
They score on a 100-point scale with the top five scoring bands translating to:-
96 - 100 - means the drink is a classic and is their most highly recommended!
90 - 95 - means the drink is superb and highly recommended.
85 - 89 - means the drink is very good and recommended.
80 - 84 - means the drink is average.
