San Francisco World Spirits Competition.

[sailor22]

How is Four Roses Mariage in the Single Barrel class? Isn't it a blend of two different Bourbons?

[mozilla]

Everyone submits their best stuff....

Thanks for reminding me.

Why are these entries not straight off the shelf?

If distilleries can hand select their best stuff....no wonder Beam White label won a medal(and it's not the first time, either). To even consider Beam White a winner over real top shelf items...is upserd.

A real competition should be ordinary product off the shelf....with no entry fees and everyone is judged against each other.

Also, how is it that they differentiate a "small batch"? There is no regulations as to the size of a small batch. Why aren't Single Barrels considered small batch?

Did anyone notice how many of the Beam Small Batch won medals? Seems a bit suspicious

[DowntownD]

surely it's been suggested before, but what better way to end-around the nonsense of such competitions than for SB.com to organize one...

American whiskey (of all types) only
blind taste tests by type/category
publicly available expressions only
a wide variety of knowledgeable judges
partner with the Malt Advocate or whomever else if necessary
adamantly resist any political influence
totally not-for-profit
etc

seriously, who could possibly do it better than this community?

[cowdery]

I don't know if it matters to anyone, but John Hansell's blog post cited above was made following last year's competition.

Anybody who has read my book knows how I feel about ratings, and competitions have the same problems, although I do participate as a judge in the WHISKY Magazine World Whiskey Awards and other competitions they do, and I judged for Bill Owens at last year's American Distilling Institute whiskey competition.

The problem is that it's all so subjective and often, no matter how they try to arrange the categories, you are comparing apples to oranges. Even when the styles are close, you still have the problem that what I like may not be what you like.

I learned a lot from Jim Murray when we did the ADI judging together. He is very good at identifying off flavors that indicate a flaw in the manufacture, especially useful when judging the efforts of micro-distillers. I felt sorry for someone like Rick Wasmund, who is very innovative, but in a rank of more ordinary spirits his stuff tastes odd and not necessarily outstanding. But how do you judge something that is unique?

I noticed once during a WHISKY mag judging that when you taste a lot of different whiskeys, something that tastes a little different (not as different as Wasmund's) will stick out and get extra points, but does that really make it the best?

Yet we live in a world of top ten lists and the centerpiece of most lifestyle journalism is the quest for the best burger or the best pizza, and when such accolades are awarded, the places that receive them get a big spike in business. Many people believe in the myth of "the best," and furthermore believe the shortcut of letting someone else tell them what's good.

Another of life's many mysteries.

[squire]

True unfortunately and there is little we can do about it except provide information to those who visit this board.

[funknik]

Chuck....well said, man.

[callmeox]

I see John Hansell in the active users list so he must have seen the bat signal hit the sky when this thread was started. How else would he know when his name comes up here?

[cowdery]

Today I learned that New York will have a very similar annual competition starting in June. More details about both competitions are here, here and here.

Obviously, I'm missing a bet. Chicago Intergalactic Spirits Competition anyone?

[JamesW]

I agree wholeheartedly with what most here have said about the lack of competition and certainly the lack of control over entries in terms of allowing distillers to submit their best bottle for review when an off-the-shelf version may be pale by comparison.

What we really have here is a quartile ranking (or quintile if you count the folks who didn't medal) where the entrants are graded with respect to their counterparts. To "win" a bronze medal simply means that you are at the bottom of the barrel in terms of what's available. A Gold or Double Gold means you are in the top 30% and so on...

I agree that the beam products rate suspiciously high. Baker's and Bookers were Double Gold but Pappy gets a Silver? ... to each his own I suppose....

[boone]

I came across this critique of the Spirits Competition a few days ago. I assume it has been posted before somewhere on the SB site, but this seems like a good opportunity for a repost.

http://blog.maltadvocate.com/2008/03/26/medal-fatigue/

-Mike

We've already run the race on this show...

Several of us hold very little clout (now) for their kind of competition after learning they voted the nasty-penny-four grain "whiskey of the year" status....

Oh, I look at it to see what they chose but it carries no "backbone" (like it used to) into any decision making of quality of product.
--------------------------

If you search, it's under WR 4 GRAIN BATCH #2 for the "rest of the roast".

Heated? Yes

This is one of my posts in that thread....

01-17-2007, 14:00 #44 boone vbmenu_register("postmenu_79377", true);
Bourbonian of the Year 2004 and Guru
Member #: 20


Join Date: Jul 2000
Location: Nelson County, Kentucky
Posts: 2,614


Re: Woodford Reserve Master’s Collection Four Grain (Batch No. 2)


I guess, I am a "traditional bourbon drinker"? Is the audience directed toward "non-traditional bourbon drinker's"? The award was given to a product that's classified as "bourbon" (?)

I guess, I should wait for a "select few" to post something in left field on that. I'm sure in the hell ain't a scotch lover...

Straight and to the point (as Randy has posted elsewhere )...

I will "assume" that it will carry the "Whiskey of the Year" hang tag. A big "sell point" to say the least.

The non-educated and newbie bourbon buyer will be swayed by the hang tag. Without someone there to guide them they will truly think that this product is going to be "excellent" to say the least. That hang tag ("used" to ) carries clout.

The sad part? They will probably pay around $80 for this bottle. The part that really brings my point to the face? It's nasty stuff. They are going to take that product home to share with family and friends and then...nearly puke pennies.

It will happen.

Hopefully, some will come here for guidance before a purchase. There's a world full of wonderful whiskey's...We're gonna steer them in the right direction. Even if we have to fight to do it.

Make a "most improved" award...or new invention award...but Whiskey of the Year?....Blunder of all blunder's, in my opinion.

Bettye Jo Boone
7th Generation Jacob Beam
G-granddaughter of Joseph L. Beam
First Master Distiller, Heaven Hill Distilleries
and of the first original incorporators of Heaven Hill