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10th Annual SIP Awards Maintains Decade-Long Record-Breaking Trend
The 2018 SIP Awards celebrates its tenth annual competition with new award categories, medal designs, and record-high participation
NEWPORT BEACH, CA, May 19, 2018 – From its humble beginnings, the Spirit International Prestige (SIP) Awards has grown into a movement that is gaining traction across the spirits industry at lightning speed. As the only international spirits competition with only consumers as judges, the SIP Awards provides small and big brands a rare opportunity to receive unbiased consumer feedback. Following the growth trend across the last decade, the 2018 competition saw a new record of 783 spirit brand entries and 122 consumer judges.
In addition to the large number of new spirit brand entries, the 2018 SIP Awards also brought about a spike in returning brands vying for the coveted Consumer Choice Award (CCA). The CCA is an exclusive medal reserved for spirit brands that manage to secure a SIP Award for two or more consecutive years.
“In 2018, we saw a 14% increase in the number of eligible entries for the Consumer Choice Award. This surge of interest in the Consumer Choice Award reflects the brands’ desires to demonstrate quality, consistency, and ongoing dedication to high standards with evidence from a third party,” says Paul Hashemi, founder of the SIP Awards.
However, the 2018 SIP Awards was not only marked by a dramatic increase in engagement with the spirit industry and consumers. In commemoration of the 10th annual competition, the SIP Awards also refreshed medal designs and created a new category, the Double Gold medal, to accommodate a greater spectrum of the top winners. The Double Gold medal corresponds to an outstanding rank of spirits and mixers which consumers judged to qualify for the top percentile of their given categories and justify strong recommendations.
“In line with our commitment to honest and unbiased feedback from consumers, we listen to our participants’ feedback to improve the value of our competition every year,” Hashemi says. “For our 10th anniversary, we updated the design of our medals to bolster the spirit brands’ marketing efforts and introduced an additional award category to further nuance the different levels of quality distinction.”
The SIP Awards takes a number of measures to ensure the objectivity of the consumer evaluation. First, all judges are screened to make sure they are not affiliated with spirit brands or the spirit industry. Additionally, the SIP Awards accounts for demographic diversity when selecting judges, as shown in our online infographic. Moreover, all spirits are served chilled and undiluted for blind tasting in a scientifically designed Neat Glass to enhance the tasting experience. Lastly, the SIP Awards uses a proprietary algorithm to gauge the judges’ palate consistency. Scores from judges with less palate variability are weighed heavier than those who have shown more palate fluctuations.
Each spirit across the various categories was graded on aroma, taste, and finish. The 2018 Platinum Best of Class honorees include:
Tequila Terraneo Organico
100% Agave Tequila Silver/Blanco
Hotel California Tequila Reposado CCA
100% Agave Tequila Reposado
Suerte Tequila Anejo CCA
100% Agave Tequila Anejo
El Fogonero Tequila
100% Agave Tequila Extra Anejo
Rosso Vermouth
Vermouth
D’Usse XO
Armagnac XO or Equivalent
36 Short Original Gin
Gin
Western Son Texas Gin
Gin
Sacred Spring Barrel Aged Gin
Gin Aged
Seesucker Southern Style Lemonade
Flavored/Infused Gin
Appalachian Sippin’ Cream Dark Chocolate Coffee
Cream/Dairy/Egg Liqueur
Five Saints Blood Orange Liqueur
Fruit/Berry Liqueur
Bols Ginger
Herbal/Botanicals Liqueur
Maggie’s Farm Falernum
Other Liqueur
Cutwater Fugu Vodka Soda Lime
Pre-Mixed Cocktail (RTD) – Max of 25% AbV
1934 Bloody Mary Mix
Bloody Mary Mixer
Sunder Mixer
Carbonated Mixer
Stirrings Authentic Grenadine
Syrup/Cordial
The Naked Turtle White Rum
White Rum
Ron de Jeremy Reserva
Gold/Dark Rum
Santa Teresa 1796 Solera Rum
Extra-Aged Rum
Twenty Boat Spiced Rum CCA
Spiced Rum
Club Caribe Mango Rum CCA
Flavored/Infused Rum
Guillotine Vodka Originale
Vodka
Cathead Vodka
Vodka
Western Son Hill Country Peach Vodka
Flavored/Infused Vodka
Evan Williams Bottled-In-Bond
Straight Bourbon Whiskey
Bernheim Original Small Batch Kentucky Straight
Small Batch Bourbon
Bower HIll, Single Barrel Bourbon
Single Barrel American Whiskey
Oregon Rye Malt Whiskey
American Straight Rye Whiskey
Golden State Corn Whiskey
Other American Whiskey
Kamiki Intense
International Whisky (non-Ireland/non-Scotland)
Dewars 12 Yr The Ancestor CCA
Blended Scotch
The Singleton of Glendullan 12 Year Old
Distillers’ Single Malt Scotch
Ole Smoky Blue Flame Moonshine CCA
Unaged Whiskey/Moonshine
William Wolf Coffee
Flavored/Infused Whiskey/Moonshine
Five Farms
Individual Bottle Design
Revel Avila Series
Series Bottle Design
For a complete list of the categories, winners, and photos from the event visit: https://sipawards.com
About the SIP Awards
The SIP Awards provides a unique judging competition for spirit brands to gain exposure, feedback, and recognition from unbiased consumers. As the only blind tasting competition of its kind, the SIP Awards offers a fair platform for top brands to showcase their products to their most discerning audience. To learn more about the SIP Awards beverage competition, venue partnerships, or for a complete list of this year’s winners, visit https://sipawards.com.
Press releases are generated outside of Spirited magazine and the information contained does not necessarily reflect the opinion of Spirited or its parent company, Sonoma Media Investments.
