The Best Spirits of 2017 announced / 900 spirits in the competition
- 16 spirits received the highest award of Grand Gold
- Château du Tariquet from Armagnac region was named “Producer of the Year“
- Bremer Spirituosen Contor defends the title of “Spirits Importer of the Year“
- The Best German Whiskey is the Stork Club Straight Rye Whiskey
The prestigious Meiningers International Spirits Award ISW was held for the 14th time in Neustadt an der Weinstrasse. The 60-strong jury of experts awarded 16 Grand Golds, the highest award, along with 144 Gold and 160 Silver medals.
The "Producer of the Year 2017" award went to France: Château du Tariquet won a total of 5 Gold and 1 Silver Medals with its high-quality Armagnacs, which is why it was honoured with this special award. The Bremer Spirituosen Contor, which has a wide range of spirits, earned 3 Grand Gold, 21 Gold and 12 Silver Medals, thereby defending its 2016 title of "Spirits Importer of the Year".
The Master Jury awarded a number of other special awards for the best spirits of a category. The Master Jury consists of the four-person management board: two chairmen and two well-known experts, Bernhard Schäfer and Jürgen Deibel. "2017 was a new challenge for us judges. At least I had the impression that we had more samples again. Fortunately the quality of spirits is still growing, and there were almost no real failure,” said chairman Bernhard Schäfer. “In some categories, we noticed that manufacturers are producing better and better products. This is good to see in the category of German Whiskeys. Ten years ago this was still exotic, with equally unusual sensory profiles. A lot has happened since and the experience the distillers have collected is now paying off. The best whiskey national, the Stork Club Straight Rye Whiskey from the Spreewald, is a good example," he added.
The fruit liqueur Cream de Cassis - Supercassis from Vedrenne, France, was awarded "Spirit of the Year". The "Brandy of the Year - National" was won by the Asbach Privatbrand 8 years and the "Liqueur of the Year" was the Kaffeeliqueur by Lantenhammer. "At this year's ISW, we have again shown that quality always endures. Our jury includes a wide range of renowned professionals, from master distillers, specialist traders and specialist journalists to world-class bartenders. Any product which received an award from such a heterogeneous jury can undoubtedly be counted among the best of the best. Again, it has been shown that more and more products are being produced to an absolute top level," says Alexander Thürer, board member ISW and spirits expert.
Most of the awards were won German distillers (121 medals), followed by Italy with 47 and France with 42 medals. 21 medals were awarded to spirits from the UK, most which were whiskeys. Distillers from Switzerland and Austria also impressed, and both countries were awarded 11 medals each. Spirits from Spain (9), the USA (8), Martinique and Panama (6), Portugal (5) and almost 20 other countries of origin also convinced.
The diversity and quality of this year's competition was, once again, impressive. The spectrum of the 900 spirits ranged from 30-year-old cognac, whiskey over 28 years, and 30-fold distilled vodka. There were also fruit distillates, fruit and bitter liqueurs and, of course, many gins. “The love and attention paid to detail by many distillers leaves one – in the positive sense – speechless," says Christian Wolf, the director of degustation.
The ISW took place for the first time in 2003 and is now regarded as one of the leading spirits competitions worldwide.
The results of the competition are now available on MEININGER ONLINE at www.meininger.de/en.
Information: www.spirits-award.com
About MEININGER VERLAG:
MEININGER VERLAG, founded in Neustadt / Weinstrasse in 1903, is one of Germany’s oldest specialist publishers and is managed by the fourth generation of the Meininger family. The company mainly specialises in publications for the wine industry and is the European leader in this field. The company also organizes trade fairs, industry events and conventions.
Meininger Verlag has an international reputation due to the Grand International Wine Award MUNDUS VINI to which nearly 10,000 wines are submitted per year. Moreover, the media company organizes other competitions such as Meiningers International Craft Beer Award, Best of Riesling, Meiningers Rotweinpreis (award for German red wines) and Meiningers Deutscher Sektpreis (award for German sparkling wines).
Press contact:
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www.meininger.de/en
www.spirits-award.com
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