Highlights from the 2012 San Francisco World Spirits Competition

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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Classic Cocktail Highlights

I've said it before, and will continue to say it... Some of the best cocktails were created over a century ago. Granted, I do enjoy many of the new and fascinating drinks today's mixologists continue to create, however, there is something to be said about going back to basics.

Through classic cocktail recipes we get a taste of how basic ingredients play off of each other and use this knowledge as a base for developing new drinks with the myriad of new liquors we have available now. I think of adding a fruit liqueur like TY KU or lychee to a Mary Pickford, St. Germain bringing a new layer to a Stone Wall, or giving a snap to the Biltmore via Domaine de Canton. Those are just quick, off-the-wall ideas that these drinks spark in me and with further thought, there's even more potential.

I noticed many instances of classic influence in the gin cocktail contest and see it often in many new recipes. The old-time drinks are natural inspirations for us and that's why I think it's important to continue to explore them

Polar Cocktail

Another note with classic cocktails is that they are often simple and depend on the quality of the individual ingredients to showcase their beauty. I think of drinks like the Journalist - essentially a splash of citrus added to a Perfect Martini - and how important it is to choose the right gin, vermouth, and curacao (not to mention fresh lemon juice) to make a truly divine drink . If we were to skimp on any of those ingredients the clean palate would be lost and if that were your only taste of it, it's likely you wouldn't try it again.? We have superior quality spirits available today which can make these drinks even better than they were originally. Take advantage of this.

Last year a reader wrote me about his mission to make every drink on my classic cocktails list within? the year. That's quite a feat as there are currently 166 drinks listed, but I admire the determination and I am now wondering how that worked out. Honestly, I have yet to tap into the plethora of old-time recipes available and it is an ongoing project of my own to explore more to share. That said, I wanted to pull out a few from the list that have been the most enjoyable in my experience so far. These are ones that remain relatively obscure and unknown, but are worthy of acknowledgement.

• Allies Cocktail - London dry gin, French vermouth, Russian Kummel
• Bolo Cocktail - rum, lime, orange, bitters
• Charlie Chaplin Cocktail - apricot brandy, sloe gin, lime
• Chicago Fizz - dark rum, ruby port, egg, lemon, soda
• Eddy - gin, dry vermouth, orange
• Old Pal - Canadian whisky, dry vermouth, Campari
• Polar Cocktail - gin, maraschino, lemon, egg
• Saratoga Brace Up - brandy, absinthe, lemon, egg, bitters, soda
• Star Cocktail - apple brandy, sweet vermouth, bitters
• Weep No More - brandy, Dubonnet Rouge, maraschino, lime
• Whispers of the Frost - whiskey, sherry, port, fruit

Explore the classics...

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