Outstanding spirits named inaugural Taste Masters

Some of the world’s most accomplished bottlings across the spirits industry were named Taste Masters at The Spirits Business’s Global Spirits Awards Masters Lunch yesterday.

Taste Master trophies have been awarded to outstanding entrants in the Global Spirits Masters series

The inaugural award series sees one variant from each round of the Global Spirits Masters named Taste Masters for demonstrating excellence in taste.

All bottlings entered into the competitions are judged blind in their respective categories by an expert panel of judges, including buyers, retailers, educators, bar managers and writers.

Since the Design and Packaging Masters does not include a tasting round, the outstanding entrant has been named Best in Class 2015.

Each Taste Master was awarded at The Spirits Business’s annual Global Spirits Masters Lunch, held at The Roof Gardens in Kensington, London, yesterday (4 December).

“We wanted to introduce an award to showcase the best liquid in each category, a ‘Master of Masters’, to really celebrate the finest spirits in the world,” said Kristiane Sherry, editor of The Spirits Business.

“Over the course of the year at each Global Spirits Masters session, the judges re-tasted every Master medal winner from each category to determine which should win. Because the Taste Master judging process remained completely blind and the winner was decided by a panel, these awards have real significance and the selected spirits now have the highest endorsement.”

See the full list of inaugural Taste Masters below:

Tequila Taste Master 2015: Herradura Añejo, Brown-Forman

Rum Taste Master 2015: XM Supreme 15YO, Banks DIH 

Scotch Whisky Taste Master 2015: The Balvenie 30YO, William Grant & Sons

Vodka Taste Master 2015: Santamania Beer’s Vodka Le Virgen, Unique Spirits SL

Asian Taste Master 2015: Hong Kong Baijiu (HKB), Charles Lanthier

Gin Taste Master 2015: Williams GB Gin, Chase Distillery

Irish Whiskey Taste Master 2015: Glendalough 7YO Single Malt, Glendalough Irish Whiskey

World Whisky Taste Master 2015: Aureum 1865 5YO, Gebr J&M Ziegler GmbH

American Whiskey Taste Master 2015: Texas Bluecorn Bourbon, Balcones Distilling

Cognac Taste Master 2015: Rémy Martin 1738 Accord Royal, Rémy Martin

Travel Retail Taste Master 2015: Grey Goose interpreted by Ducasse, Bacardi GTR

Liqueurs Taste Master 2015: Specially Selected Crème De Cassis, Aldi UK

Speciality Spirits Taste Master 2015: The Manhattan Cocktail, ATOM Brands Ltd

Design and Packaging Best in Class 2015: Mr Black Cold Press Coffee Liqueur, Love Drinks