You cant miss with this one. The finish is long-ish with more of that nutmeg, dark chocolate, dried fruit, and cedar. Suddenly, we found ourselves as the new kids on the block kids who had the best tasting tequila in the world. On the nose, an indulgent bouquet of butterscotch and maple is highlighted by roasted nuts and tobacco. The whiskey is then aged in small, 10-gallon barrels (average barrels are 53 gallons) under the hot Nevada sun for four years before blending, proofing, and bottling. Not only is the initial bottling typically limited to just a few hundred bottles, but subsequent single cask offerings can be very different from previous ones. This introductory juice from Four Roses is a blend of all 10 of their whiskeys. ", Marsha Milam, Founder of Ben Milam Whiskey, "The San Francisco World Spirits Competition is the end-all-be-all for the industry," says Fagnan, Our medals are a major claim to fame because they were awarded by the worlds best connoisseurs who cannot be paid, "The San Francisco World Spirits Competition is the end-all-be-all for the industry," says Fagnan, Our medals are a major claim to fame because they were awarded by the worlds best connoisseurs who cannot be paid off. . Pappy van Winkle does not disclose its mash bill. Poitin is not technically a whiskey. Youre not best in show, but you are near the top of the heap. Were doing a giveaway of our Double Gold medalist The Glendronach Forgue aged 10 years! The Small Batch and Single Barrel Bourbon judging is the heart of the bourbon category. On the palate, theres caramel and licorice, along with ripe stone fruits. The Kavalan Solist, on the other hand, offers a lot more complexity, featuring butterscotch and stone fruits on the nose, along with cinnamon aromas. The finish is long, sweet and peppery, with lingering fruit notes. These spirits. . . Pumpernickel and marzipan have me intrigued. On the palate, its exceptionally smooth, with sweet, stone and tropical fruit flavors, along with cinnamon and pepper notes. This is just classic from top to bottom. There were 11 Double golds awarded to; Never Never Distilling Co.s Juniper Freak AND Southern Strength gins, Imperial Measures Distilling Signature gin, Archie Rose Distilling Co. Distillers Strength gin AND Bone Dry gin, Gindu Australian Dry AND Coastal gins, Tinberry Distilling Co. Signature gin, Narrow Tracks Dog Days gin, Distil on the Hill Mandarin gin and 78 Degrees Sunset gin. You get a sourdough note that leads right into a vanilla extract that turns it into a sort of raw pancake batter. The Best of Class Small Batch Bourbon 6 to 10 Years has two finalists: Old Ezra 7 YO Barrel Strength Bourbon Whiskey, Photo, courtesy Old Ezra/Lux Row Distillers. Its creamy and smooth on the palate, with tropical fruit notes and a long, lingering, sweet and fruity finish. On the nose, its dry and savory, with hints of fruit and well-seasoned oak wood. There were three finalists in the Best of Class Straight Bourbon category: 15 Stars, 14 YO, Timeless Reserve, Kentucky Straight Bourbon Whiskey, 51.5% ABV, Clyde Mays Special Reserve Bourbon, 55% ABV, and 1792, Full Proof Straight Bourbon, 62.5% ABV. Thats all you really need to know. The result is a sublime whiskey: notes of vanilla, oak, honey, and a touch of cinnamon spice.. . The barrels were vatted after 17 years and proofed down to the bottled-in-bond standard of 100 proof and then bottled in the iconic Old Fitz decanter for a Spring 2022 release. That said, Id generally use this for mixing cocktails, in a high ball, or over rocks in a pinch. The juice is made from a mash bill of 51 percent corn, 44 percent malted barley, and only five percent rye. The taste really amps up the creaminess of the vanilla and the butteriness of the toffee, as a slight marzipan flourish arrives with a thin layer of freshly cracked black pepper and salted black licorice. While maturing, 64 percent of the whiskey was lost to the angels before it was small-batched and bottled as is. . Triple Juniper Export Strength, Original Spirit Co. Or just enjoy it on some rocks. . Shy on the nose, big and zesty on the palate with sweet corn tinged with berries and a touch of apricot. I write about wines and spirits and the hidden corners of the world, The finalists in the Canadian, Japanese and World. Led by Scotch brands, Diageo liquids were recognized for quality, craftsmanship and overall excellence with 96 medals including 19 Prestigious Double Gold. The group is divided into three categories: Best of Class: Small Batch Bourbon Up to 5 Years; Best of Class: Small Batch Bourbon 6 to 10 Years and Best of Class: Single Barrel Bourbon Up to 10 Years. This is a true grain to glass producer that has also been a consistent medal winner in international competitions. The finish is long, sweet and fruity. Founded in 2000, the SFWSC is the oldest competition in North America and the largest spirits judging in the world. "Spiritless Kentucky 74 is the most fun NA spirit I've tried. All The Double Gold-Winning Straight Bourbons From This Years San Francisco World Spirits Competition. Cocktail courtesy @abacaty_official 1 min read. This is a great high-end whiskey that delivers. Dark chocolate and molasses complement cream and vanilla to create an incredibly rich mouthfeel. This is a great mixer for your next cocktail. The mid-palate is just hot, hot, hot as a sense of Irish Spring soap arrives next to sweetgrass, vanilla tobacco, and a pile of firewood on the finish. Now we just have to find a bottle. Tito's Handmade won the double gold medal for best vodka over Grey Goose, Belvedere and 70 others. The Weller 12 YO is an outstanding whiskey. @henstone_distillery. 2023 The Tasting Alliance, All rights reserved. There was a total of 14 international whisk(e)y expressions that made the final judging Sweeps rounds at the 2022 San Francisco World Spirits Competition (SFWSC). Lyre Italian Spritz. Its awesome on the rocks but really kills in a cocktail. The warm temperatures tend to facilitate rapid extraction of flavor elements from the cask wood, resulting in a rich, flavorful whisky, although sometimes this results in whiskies that are slightly unbalanced. The best way to describe it is as the Irish version of moonshine. The whisky features stone fruits and cinnamon on the nose. The Redbreast 12 YO is similar but spicier. Honey really stands out on the nose next to tart apples leaning towards apple cores or seeds, supported by classic notes of vanilla pods, caramel, and light oak. Overall Best Of Class at the 2022 San Francisco World Spirits Award Photo Illustration By: Brad Japhe The San Francisco World Spirits Competition celebrated its 22th iteration. . The finish is long and sweet, with lingering licorice notes. This is one of my favorite on-the-rocks bourbons. First launched in 2018, awarded Double Gold and Best of class in our 2021 competition. It has some licorice and tropical fruit notes on the palate, with a long, smooth, creamy finish. Amazing! But, in all honesty, thats about it. This year the San Francisco World Spirits Competition (SFWSC) judged hundreds of bourbon expressions across a range of different categories. NEW YORK, April 12, 2022 /PRNewswire/ -- Stoli Group today announced that Stoli won ten awards in the 2022 San Francisco Spirits Competition, including a Double Gold Award for Stoli Premium . Always love checking out and shouting out interesting innovative products! The SFWSC is regarded as one of the most prestigious spirits . Poitin has become quite trendy of late and a favorite of mixologists who have been experimenting with it in a range of cocktails. I like sipping on this with a rock but also use it for Manhattans thanks to the higher ABVs. The finish has a sweet edge with marshmallows and cotton candy next to all that fruit and a little bit of dark chocolate tobacco on the very end. Recognition of the deep work of the Calle 23 team which provided a huge boost & smile to everyone involved; 2. Still, Id buy two $50 bottles before Id take time tracking this one down. Happy National Coquito day! Try recipe with our gold medalist White Rum @cottonandreed. Is White Men Cant Jump Star Jack Harlow A Better Rapper, Actor, Or Basketball Player? The palate leans into that toffee and then layers in raspberry sorbet, vanilla beans, masa azul, and wet cedar planks. The Bushmills 16 YO, on the other hand, shows cooked cereal notes on the nose, along with distinctive stone fruit aromas. Single barrel expressions can represent exceptional bourbons. The spirits might be new riffs on old traditions, but New Riff Distilling is making a new tradition out of medaling at the San Francisco World Spirits Competition. Swipe right to see recipe! The Starward Fortis was the top expression of more than a dozen Australian single malt whiskies that scored Double Gold at the 2022 SFWSC. Single Barrel Reserve, Storytellers Distillery Volume 1: Australian Dry Gin, Never Never Distilling Co. This, like Old Fitzgerald, blows away a lot of the competition on this list. That makes this one almost closer to a grain whiskey from Ireland or Scotland than a standard bourbon. Some manufacturers provide more information than strictly required (age statements, mash bills), some dont. . Swipe right to see recipe! It's . The finish is long, sweet and peppery, with lingering dried fruit notes. Also Read: The Top 5 UPROXX Bourbon Posts Of The Last Six Months. Congrats on the book @splificator ! See also the dozens of Double Gold medal winners across the various world whisky categories that were chosen at the 2022 SFWSC judging. Wilfred's Bittersweet Aperitif. Its complex and satisfying. This is nice. This is the best deal on this list. The finalists in the Irish Whiskey category, Photo, courtesy Katelyn Tucker Photography/SFWSC. Its also worth mixing into your next cocktail if you bring a bottle home. The finish is long and sweet, with lingering fruit notes of stone and tropical fruit. Courtesy of @wholetogethernow 15 Stars bourbon is a bit of an outlier. Tres Manos is a bar and studio that was named number 33 on the World's 50 Best Bars and top 4 of the best openings of 2019 for Tales of the Cocktail Foundation. In total there were just under 250 Australian medal-winning entries, with 100 being gold or double gold. Little wonder that the W. L. Weller 12 YO is often referred to as the poor mans Pappy.. The legal definition of bourbon is that it must be matured in new casks of charred oak, contain at least 51% corn in the mash, distilled at no more than 80% ABV and casked at a maximum of 62.5% ABV. "We got a call that we'd be in the San Francisco World Spirits Competition," he says. This is a shockingly good whiskey for a straight bourbon with no bells or whistles. This smells like bourbon on the nose with hints of caramel, vanilla, oak, and a dollop of maple syrup. Contest ends Jan 31st. The Best of Class: Small Batch Bourbon Up to 5 years has one finalist: Penelope, Private Select Bourbon, 57.5% ABV. Original Classic Dry Gin, The Melbourne Gin Company Single Shot Gin, Young Henrys Noble Cut Newtown Strength Gin, Billsons Brewery Isabellas Barrel-Aged Gin, Distil On The Hill RASPBERRY MACADAMIA GIN, Granddad Jacks Craft Distillery 65 Miles Gin, Granddad Jacks Craft Distillery Greenhouse Gin, Imperial Measures Distilling OUNCE GIN BOLD, Never Never Distilling Co. Whiskey AND tequila? Our blend begins on the palate with rich, caramel notes. The TTB has yet to rule on whether cask finishing is compatible with the legal definition of bourbon. The result is enhanced interaction between spirit and cask wood that produces more heavily extracted flavorful spirits. Spice and wet brown sugar mix on the nose with a sense of apple crumble with plenty of butter and maybe a little too much clove and allspice. The finish drives back towards the sweetness of that salted caramel but this time its covered in dark chocolate and sitting inside an old cedar box that once held fistfuls of menthol-laced tobacco leaves. Its really that good. That oak comes through on the nose with a mix of dry cedar and resin-heavy pine as more standard notes of toffee, vanilla, and cherry shine. The whiskey is a wheated bourbon without an age statement but is generally at least four years old. The competition is organized by the Tasting Alliance, an organization founded. "Things moved quicker after that," he says. ", Brad Beckerman, Founder & CEO of Stillhouse Whiskey, "Finally, in 2001--a break. That year he notched his rst real prot. In the meantime, there have been a plethora of labels that identify the bottle contents as bourbon but acknowledge that the spirit has been finished in another barrel. Purists have argued that finishing bourbon in casks that previously held other liquids violates the legal definition of bourbon and those spirits, while they remain whiskeys, should not carry the label bourbon. This new-ish release from Kentucky Owl is meant to be an affordable and accessible Kentucky Owl from the otherwise elite brand. Click to review important changes coming to the Craft Beverage Modernization Act in 2023. . Keeping cozy and warm by sipping on a Jackrabbit made with @herradurateq reposado tequila, @campariofficial, grapefruit and mint. The bourbon revival continues to gather steam with literally hundreds of new expressions being released every year. . . This modifier-filled whiskey is branded as the biggest, baddest bourbon from Indiana. The juice in the bottle is a blend of five to seven-year-old honey barrels from Lawrenceburg Distillers Indiana. Defenders of the practice have argued that the bourbon is already matured when it is moved to a cask that previously held other liquids and that the finishing process does not contravene the legal definition of bourbon. . More dried fruit on the palate, along with caramel and some wood spice followed by a long, sweet, fruity finish. This has no business being as good as it is for $20. Head to the link in our bio to enter today. They are significantly overproof, a style that is becoming increasingly popular among bourbon producers. In the meantime, inspired in part by the proliferation of craft distillers and their innovative mash bills, distillation techniques and maturation protocols, many of the larger established and historic distillers have also embarked on a new cycle of experimentation and innovation. Yes, theres a lot to parse here for those of us just looking for a little guidance on our next bottle or two. A total of 21 agave-based spirits across six different categories made the final judging "Sweeps" round at the 2022 San Francisco World Spirits Competition (SFWSC). The whiskey shows tropical fruits on the nose. THE LARGEST & MOST PRESTIGIOUS SPIRITS COMPETITION IN THE WORLD, Winning SFWSC medals gave our tequila 'Calle 23' two powerful levers: 1. Apple chips (and maybe even banana chips) mingle with spiced honey, mild leather, and a green line of kiwi skins and fennel tops on the nose. Shelter Point is an artisanal/craft distillery located just outside Campbell River, British Columbia. continue reading Sophie Decobecq, Founder of Calle 23 On the palate, its sweet with cooked and dried fruit notes, along with hints of milk chocolate. 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