The Finalists are Announced.
Date:
Tue, 07 Feb 2012
Source:
Event Scotland
The Glenlivet triumphed in the first round of judging of the Spirit of Speyside Whisky Awards 2012, featuring in each of the three categories of the prestigious awards.
The judging panel for the first round of the awards, including industry representatives, whisky writers and specialist retailers, gathered recently at the Scottish Parliament in Edinburgh for a blind tasting of 52 of Speyside’s finest malts hosted by Richard Lochhead MSP.
The judges selected two finalists in each of three categories resulting in a good representation of sherry influenced whiskies, a new release from Tomintoul Distillery and another fine representation from Chivas Brothers.
Jim Royan, Chairman of the Spirit of Speyside Whisky Festival said: “Many of the world’s most popular whiskies come from Speyside, so these shortlisted spirits are expressions of some of the highest quality malts to be found in the region. We look forward to the next round of judging when visitors to the Festival will be the final decision-makers of the winning whiskies.”
Susan Young, editor of Dram magazine was attending as a judge for the first time. She said she had been pleasantly surprised by the high quality of entries which she felt demonstrated the depth of whiskies available in Speyside. “When you’re tasting blind, you’re not influenced by packaging or presentation but judge purely on the taste. The selection of whiskies entered for the awards was excellent which made it more difficult, particularly in the 12 years old and under category. There were a few good whiskies I tasted on the day which I would definitely like to have in my drinks cabinet at home!”
The six finalists will now to on to a public vote at the Spirit of Speyside Whisky Festival on Thursday, 3rd May, a unique judging process which has helped the Awards gain international recognition since their inception in 2005.
Visitors to the Festival can book tickets for the exclusive final judging of the best of Speyside malts, and the winners will be announced shortly afterwards at the Opening Dinner to be held at The Macallan.
More Information
Spirit of Speyside Whisky Festival
Event Scotland