At the end of March the San Francisco World Spirits Competition - what could be considered the Oscars of the distilled spirits industry - took place and this year's results are interesting. Below are highlights of the results, those spirits that took top honors in their category during the blind tasting. Quite a few of these are surprising because the brand is not one of the standards and this list is wonderful suggestions of liquor that we should be checking out.
Beyond the top individual winners, other awards of note are:
- Distiller of the Year - Burn Stewart Distillers of Glasgow, Scotland... makers of some fine Scotch including Bunnahabhain, Ledaig and Tobermory, Scottish Leader, Black Bottle, and Deanston
- Importer of the Year - Beam, Inc.... Obviously, Beam is the the home company of Jim Beam Bourbon, but their products also include many of our favorites such as Maker's Mark, Sauza, Skinny Girl and imports like Courvoisier, Teacher's Scotch, Cruzan, and Kilbeggan.
- Director's Award - William Grant and Sons... This company has an all-star line up of spirits including Glenfiddich, The Balvenie, Tullamore Dew, Hendrick's Gin, Bols, Stolichnaya, and Milagro Tequila.
This list is only for those that won "Best" of in the category, all are Double Gold Medal winners, and the SFWSC website has the full results for you to browse. This year the judges sampled a whopping 1215 distilled spirits from 60 countries.
Brandy
- BEST BRANDY / Best Calvados: Boulard Calvados XO, France [40%] $110. Calvados-Boulard.com
- Best Cognac: Hennessy Cognac Richard Hennessy, Cognac, France [40%] $3500.? Hennessy.com
- Best Armagnac: Comte de Lauvia Armagnac VSOP Superior, Gers, France [40%] $49.
- Best Pisco: WAQAR Pisco, Limari Valley, Chile [40%] $45.? PiscoWaqar.cl
Gin
- Best Gin: Tanqueray London Dry Gin, United Kingdom [47.3%] $20. Tanqueray.com
Rum
- BEST AGED WHITE SPIRIT / Best Aged Rum: Vizcaya Rum VXOP Cask 21, Year Solera, Dominican
Republic [40%] $38.? VizcayaRum.com - Best White Rum: Kinkylux White Rum, Trinidad & Tobago [37.5%] $18. ASMLiquor.com
- Best Gold Rum: Cockspur Fine Rum, Barbados [40%] $18. CockspurRum.com
- Best Cachaca:Leblon Maison Leblon Cachaca Reserve Especial, Minas Gerais, Brazil [40%] $30. Leblon.com
- Best Rhum Agricole: Rhum J.M. Rhum Agricole Millesime 2001, Macouba, Martinique [46.6%] $120.? DomaineSelect.com
Tequila
- BEST UNAGED WHITE SPIRIT - Best Silver Tequila: Avion Silver Tequila, Jalisco, Mexico [40%] $40. TequilaAvion.com
- Best Reposado Tequila: Alquimia Organic Reposado Tequila, Arandas, Jalisco, Mexico [40%] $54. TequilaAlquimia.com
- Best Anejo Tequila: Don Celso Anejo Tequila, Arandas, Jalisco, Mexico [40%] $47.
- Best Ultra-Aged Anejo Tequila: El Tesoro Extra-Aged Anejo Tequila Paradiso, Jalisco, Mexico [40%] $110. www.eltesorotequila.com
- Best Mezcal: Real Matlatl Tobala Mezcal, Oaxaca, Mexico [48%] $125.? RealMatlatl.com
Vodka
- Best Vodka: Platinka Original Vodka, Belarus [40%] $25. Platinka.com
- Best Flavored Vodka: EFFENR Cucumber Vodka, Groninegen, Holland [37.5%] $30. EffenVodka.com
Whiskey
- BEST WHISKY / Best Single Malt Scotch:? Isle of Jura Single Malt Scotch 1976, Islands, Scotland [42%] $750. IsleofJura.com
- Best Blended Scotch: Whyte & Mackay 30 Year Old Scotch, Supreme, Scotland [40%] $290. WhyteandMackay.com
- Best Bourbon: Old Forester Birthday Bourbon 2011, Kentucky, [49%] $50. OldForester.com
- Best Rye Whiskey: Knob Creek Rye, Kentucky, [50%] $40. KnobCreek.com
- Best Irish Whiskey: Bushmills 21 Year Old Single Malt Irish Whiskey, Ireland [40%] $125. Bushmills.com
- Best Canadian Whisky: Canadian Mist Canadian Whisky, Black Diamond (review), Ontario, Canada [43%] $15. CanadianMist.com
- Best Other Whisky: Suntory Yamazaki 18 Year Old Single Malt Whisky (review), Japan [43%] $120. Suntory.com
Liqueurs
- BEST LIQUEUR / Best Fruit Liqueur: Grand Marnier Quintessence, Cognac, France [40%] $799. GrandMarnier.com
- Best Cream Liqueur: Mozart Gold - Chocolate Cream Liqueur, Austria [17%] $28. www.Mozart-Distillerie.com
- Best Aquavit: Krogstad Aquavit, Oregon, [40%] $25. HouseSpirits.com
- Best Aperitif: Aperol Aperitif, Italy [11%] $22.? PalmBayImports.com
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