At the first-ever London Spirits Competition, which took place in London on March 8-9, 20 spirits from all over the world were awarded the prestigious Gold medal. The top scoring spirit, The Irishman Single Malt from Walsh Whiskey Distillery, was named the “Spirit of the Year.”

Spirits were judged on the basis of three primary criteria – quality, value, and packaging – and then scored on a 100-point scale. Spirits that scored 90+ points were awarded Gold medals, while spirits that scored 76 to 89 points were awarded Silver medals. The primary reason for using three criteria rather than just one was to focus on the overall drinkability of each spirit. As a result, the judging panel ranked spirits not just by how they taste, but also their overall presentation and appearance in the bottle. In addition, judges assessed spirits on their relative value in relation to their peers, as determined by retail pricing.

The breakout star of the event was The Irishman Single Malt from Walsh Whiskey Distillery in Carlow, Ireland. In addition to winning “Spirit of the Year,” this whiskey also won “Best in Show” and “Whiskey of the Year.” Several UK spirits in addition to The Irishman Single Malt scored high enough to be awarded a Gold medal, including Dewar’s 18 Year Old The Vintage from John Dewar & Sons Ltd, The Dead Rabbit Irish Whiskey from the Dublin Liberties Whiskey Company, and Tomintoul 16 Years Old Single Malt and Glencadam 19 Years Old Oloroso Sherry Cask Finish Single Malt from Angus Dundee Distillers,

Other notable winners included Nemiroff Honey Pepper Vodka (“Vodka of the Year”), Ratu Spice Rum (“Rum of the Year”), High Spirits Gin (“Gin of the Year”) and Angus Dundee Distillers (“Distillery of the Year”). Also, since winners at the London Spirits Competition were ranked according to three different scoring criteria – quality, value, and packaging – the event recognized those entrants that scored the highest in each of the categories. Slane Irish Whiskey from Brown Forman was the highest-scoring spirit according to value.

The London Spirits Competition was launched in late 2017 by Beverage Trade Network, which organizes alcohol beverage industry events all over the world. The goal of this event was to judge spirits the way consumers judge them. In contrast to other spirits competitions, where technical expertise sometimes receives primary consideration at the expense of drinkability, the goal of the London Spirits Competition was to award and celebrate the spirits that spirits drinkers actually want to buy, whether at a retail liquor store or ordering off the menu at a London restaurant.

Chief executive of Beverage Trade Network Sid Patel said, “At all the major competitions, spirits are judged solely on the quality of what’s in the bottle. We wanted to take a different approach, by asking our judges to look at spirits the way spirits drinkers do, adding appearance and value for money into the mix.”

“The best-tasting spirits in the world won’t attract the attention of consumers unless the packaging design and price point appeal to spirits drinkers,” says Patel. “People buy products with their eyes first, and that puts a real premium on spirits that are able to offer an attractive presentation, everything from the label to the brand perception.”

“Including all three factors into the judging process produces results that are closer to the reality of the way consumers purchase spirits and gives distillers better feedback on how their spirits are perceived by spirits drinkers,” Patel notes.

At the judging session, judges tasted and scored spirits on a blind basis before seeing bottles and marking them for on-shelf appeal as well as value for money. This enabled them to come up with an overall score that reflects their overall drinkability.

Patel said, “Launching a new competition is exciting but also daunting, especially when it fundamentally changes the way spirits are judged. We’re delighted with the first-ever London Spirits Competition, which attracted entries from award-winning distilleries from all over Europe, in addition to Australia and the United States.”

Based on the initial success of this year’s London Spirits Competition, Beverage Trade Network plans to run the competition again in 2019 and will be opening up entries towards the end of 2018.

For more information on the London Spirits Competition, please see: www.londonspiritscompetition.com

For more information on Beverage Trade Network, please see: www.beveragetradenetwork.com

THE 2018 WINNERS

Spirit of the Year

• The Irishman Single Malt - Walsh Whiskey Distillery

Vodka of the Year

• Nemiroff Honey Pepper vodka – LVN Limited

Rum of the Year

• Ratu Spice Rum – Rum Co Fiji

Gin of the Year

• High Spirits Gin – High Spirits Distillery

Whiskey of the Year

• The Irishman Single Malt – Walsh Whiskey Distillery

Distillery of the Year

• Angus Dundee Distillers, Great Britain

Best in Show (By Country)

1. Netherlands – Organic Old Gin – BioSpirits BV
2. Australia – High Spirits Gin – High Spirits Distillery
3. Denmark – Rum Edition, batch 01 – Fary Lochan Destilleri
4. France – Puranique Vodka – Global Spirits LLC
5. Great Britain – Dewar’s 18 Year Old The Vintage – John Dewar & Sons Ltd
6. Ireland – The Irishman Single Malt – Walsh Whiskey Distillery
7. United States – Hop Vodka – Drinklab Inc

London Spirits Competition Gold medal winners:

1. Walsh Whiskey Distillery - The Irishman Single Malt
2. High Spirits Distillery - High Spirits Gin
3. John Dewar & Sons Ltd - Dewar's 18 Year Old The Vintage
4. Casoni Fabbricazione Liquori - Bitter del Ciclista
5. The Dublin Liberties Whiskey Company - The Dead Rabbit Irish Whiskey
6. Poetic License - Northern Dry Gin
7. Brimmers Limited - Brimmers Bitters
8. LVN Limited (Brand - Nemiroff) - Nemiroff Honey Pepper
9. Poetic License Distillery - Sarsaparilla Gin Liqueur
10. Piperita Srl - Liquore Delle Sirene
11. Copperhead NV - Copperhead Black Batch
12. Angus Dundee Distillers - Tomintoul 16 Years Old Single Malt
13. Angus Dundee Distillers - Glencadam 19 years Old Oloroso Sherry Cask Finish Single Malt
14. Conker Spirit Ltd - Conker Cold Brew Coffee Liqueur
15. Isle of Skye Distillers LTD - Misty Isle Gin
16. Quintessential Brands - Opihr Gin
17. Applewood Distillery - Økar Amaro
18. Drinklab Inc - Hop Vodka
19. City of London distillery - Square Mile
20. Torino Distillati - VII Hills Italian Dry Gin

London Spirits Competition Silver medal winners:

1. Brown Forman - Slane Irish Whiskey
2. Northumberland Spirit Company Ltd - Alnwick Gin
3. L. Psenner GmbH - Grappa Barrique Riserva
4. Dà Mhìle Distillery - Botanical Gin
5. John Dewar & Sons Ltd - Dewar's 12 The Ancestor
6. John Dewar & Sons Ltd - Dewar's 15 The Monarch
7. John Dewar & Sons Ltd - Dewar's 25 The Signature
8. NAYA & BLAZQUEZ ASSOCIATES, S.L. - Licor de Marialluïsa
9. Casoni Fabbricazione Liquori - Nocino di Modena
10. The Oxford Artisan Distillery (TOAD) - Oxford Dry Gin
11. Orkney Gin Company - Orkney Gin Company Johnsmas
12. Global Spirits LLC - Puranique Vodka
13. The Walled Garden Trading Company Ltd - Gordon Castle Scotland Distilled Gin
14. Angus Dundee Distillers - Tomintoul Tlath Single Malt
15. Angus Dundee Distillers - Old Ballantruan 15 Years Old
16. Ben Nevis Distillery - 12 Years Old Deluxe Blend
17. Alpine Distilling - Preserve Liqueur
18. Sacred Spirits - English Whisky Liqueur
19. BEPI TOSOLINI - GIN T
20. John Dewar & Sons Ltd - Dewar's White Label
21. Spirit Of Harrogate Ltd - Slingsby Navy Strength Gin
22. The Gower Gin Company Ltd – GWYR – Gower Gin
23. Applewood Distillery - Espressocello
24. Lignell & Piispanen - Gustav Dill Vodka
25. The Dublin Liberties Whiskey Company, part of Quintessential Brands Group - The Dubliner 10-Year-Old Irish Whiskey
26. Rum Co Fiji - Ratu Spice Rum
27. Rum Co Fiji - Ratu Signature Liqueur
28. Vodquila LLC - Vodquila
29. Tesseron Cognac - Tesseron Lot 90 XO Ovation
30. Angus Dundee Distillers - Glencadam Origin Single Malt
31. Angus Dundee Distillers - Glencadam 13 Years Old Single Malt

For a full list of the Silver Medal and Bronze Medal winners, please see: www.londonspiritscompetition.com