Awarding the Awards

Recently, a friend sent me the following text: 

“[A television] Commercial says Jim Beam Black Extra Aged is the World’s highest rated. Opinion?”  

My friend's question came the same day Whisky Advocate announced their Top 20 of 2017 and others started competitions to crown a best whisky of 2017 so my thoughts were already focused on the award system itself.  I almost went with kneejerk reply of "So what?  Everyone wins an award at one of these competitions."  But I caught myself and replied with something more diplomatic.  

But then I started thinking about it.  Was my initial reaction correct?  This post explores that question.

International Spirits Competitions

There are many international competitions in which spirit and wine makers send in their products to be evaluated blind by a panel of experts.  The International Wine and Spirits Competition (IWSC), which indirectly caused this post by crowning Jim Beam Black the best bourbon in the world, consists of multiple rounds of blind tasting by panels of pre-screen experts.  In addition the IWSC also performs a chemical analysis of the spirit to ensure it is the same spirit that is on the shelf at your local store.  In this competition, products are given either a Gold Outstanding, Gold, Silver Outstanding, Silver, or Bronze ratings based on their cumulative score. The San Francisco World Spirits Competition (SFWSC), International Spirits Competition (ISC), the Ultimate Spirits Challenge, and the Scotch Whisky Masters all operate in a similar manner. Each year, these competitions rate a few hundred to a couple thousand whiskies.  

The table below shows the number of medalist in each category for three different competitions.

	IWSC	SFWSC	ISC
Gold Outstanding or Double Gold	13	120	N/A
Gold	74	128	91
Silver Outstanding	228	N/A	N/A
Silver	320	252	~400
Bronze	11	112	26

The data affirm my kneejerk reaction.  Winning a Gold Medal puts you in the top 10-20% and that does mean something coming from a panel of blind tasters.  But winning a silver or bronze medal doesn't mean much.  An average whisky at one of these competitions wins a Silver Medal.

But is there consistency across competitions?  The table below lists the few whiskies that were granted a Gold Outstanding over the last two years by the IWSC and their corresponding medals in SFWSC and ISC (remember, not all whisky makers enter each competition).  For the most part, those that achieved a Gold Outstanding at IWSC were also received Gold in SFWC and ISC.  That’s good news because it means that if you go to the store and see something that says it was honored with a  Gold medal, then you can assume that it is probably Gold across the board.

	IWSC	SFWSC	ISC
Bunnahabhain 18 Yr	Gold Outstanding	Silver	Silver
Bowmore 18	Gold Outstanding	Gold	Gold
Kavalan Soloist ex-Bourbon Casks	Gold Outstanding	Gold	Gold
Kavalan Port Cask	Gold Outstanding	Double Gold	Silver
Knob Creek Rye	Gold Outstanding	Gold	Gold
Aberlour a’bundah	Gold Outstanding	Gold	Gold
Glenfiddich Bourbon Barrel Reserve	Gold Outstanding	Gold	Silver

I hope this helps you make your decision next time you see a medalist whisky at the store.  For what it's worth, I did try Jim Beam Black and it is now a regular on my shelf!  Cheers.