While the rest of us were crawling from our cocoons to take in the fresh air (and pollen) of spring, across the nation small groups of trained experts intentionally locked themselves away to take on a tough job: tasting and rating spirits submitted as nominees for major awards. Two of the biggest competitions have released their results already, and Middle Tennessee distilleries kept up their streak of excellence among the winners.
Probably the most prestigious spirits competition is the San Francisco World Spirits Competition, and Tennessee showed up and showed out again this year. Plus, a quick note, many of these same products were written up here at Bites as part of my Whiskey Wednesday series, so hopefully you were able to heed my advice before they became award winners.
As you might expect, the biggest distilleries definitely pulled in some major hauls, with Jack Daniel’s bringing home coveted Double Golds for their Twice Barreled Special Release American Single Malt, 12-Year-Old Tennessee Whiskey and 10-Year-Old Batch 2 as well as Silvers for their Bonded and Triple Mash whiskeys. George Dickel did well also, receiving a Double Gold for their Small Batch Bourbon, a Gold for their Bottled-in Bond Tennessee Whiskey and a Silver for their 17 Year Old Reserve Tennessee Whiskey.
While Uncle Nearest isn’t producing their own whiskey at a large scale yet, the well-funded distillery has released some more award-winning products this year, and the SFWSC took notice. The judges awarded a Double Gold for their Single Barrel Rye Whiskey — Batch 002 and Golds for two other ryes and four additional bourbons and Tennessee whiskeys.
Nashville Barrel Co. kept their winning streak alive with a Double Gold for their Nashtucky brand of Single Barrel Bourbon and Golds for Nashtucky Rye, their remarkable Agave Spirit and two other ryes. They also received a Silver for one of their younger Small Batch Bourbon blends. Carey Bringle’s Peg Leg Porker Spirits won a Bronze for their 8-year-old rye, but the big news is that Bringle’s flagship Straight Tennessee Bourbon Whiskey received a Double Gold and was named a top three in the category, leading to an invitation to the gala awards ceremony that will reveal the Best in Class winners.
Nelson’s Green Brier Distillery earned a Double Gold for their fabulous 15-year-old rye whiskey, a bottle of which I have been slowly making my way through while fighting off the advances of my friends who want to drink it. They also earned a Silver for their Sherry Cask Finish Bourbon. O.H. Ingram actually ages their spirits in Kentucky in a barge on the river, but they are Nashville-based, so we’re proud to claim them and their two Silvers for their River Aged Straight Bourbon and Rye.
The local heroes at Corsair Distillery brought home a Gold for their Triple Smoke and a Silver for their Barrel Aged Gin. Finally, the master blenders at Standard Proof Whiskey Co. earned Golds for both their Straight Rye Whiskey and their Texas pecan-flavored rye whiskey. Kudos to all the SFWSC winners from around the region!
Another major competition also just released their winners list. The ASCOT Awards, put on by the American Spirits Council Of Tasters, is another blind judging competition organized by renowned spirits journalist Fred Minnick, and the competition has quickly risen in esteem after just a few years. The ASCOTs offer Double Platinum, Platinum and Gold as their top awards categories.
Many of the same distilleries and spirits that won in San Francisco also saw success with the ASCOTs, including a Double Platinum for one of O.H. Ingram’s single barrel ryes, a Double Platinum for Uncle Nearest’s Single Barrel Bourbon and a Double Platinum to Leiper’s Fork Distillery for their always excellent Bottled in Bond Bourbon. Nashville Barrel CO. also won a Double Platinum for their Cask Batch Bourbon and a Platinum for their Cask Batch Rye.
In a non-alcoholic category, Nashville’s Better than Booze won Double Platinums for their elderberry-infused gin and tonic and their rosemary-infused grapefruit paloma. I told ya so!
O.H. Ingram also won two more Platinums at the ASCOTs, the same number as Jack Daniel’s and Uncle Nearest each earned. Golds went to Leiper’s Fork, Uncle Nearest and Yellow Bird Tennessee Whiskey, putting them in some pretty lofty company. If you’re looking to try some of the best home-grown products in your local liquor store, this would be a very good list to start out with!
