After a year of blind tastings and assessments, The Spirits Business has announced the Grand Spirit Masters and Taste Masters from its Global Spirits Masters 2017 series.

Atom Brands is the overall Grand Sprit Master 2017

The awards were announced during The Global Spirits Masters Awards Lunch at Frederick’s in London on Friday (1 December).

The Global Spirits Masters is a blind tasting competition run by The Spirits Business using expert panels of independent judges. A total of 18 competitions have been held throughout 2017.

The Grand Spirit Master from each category is the company that gathered the highest number of points from throughout the day.

The Taste Master is the single expression considered by judges to be the ‘best in class’ of each particular competition.

“2017 has been remarkable year for The Global Spirits Masters, which has yielded more entries and more medals than ever before,” said Amy Hopkins, editor of The Spirits Business magazine.

“The level of quality across all categories in the competition was truly outstanding – a heartening sign that innovation in the spirits industry is in rude health.

“I’d like to thank our judges from throughout the year – without their skills, enthusiasm and professionalism, the competition wouldn’t be what it is today.”

Following impressive wins in The Scotch Whisky Masters, The Gin Masters and The Design & Packaging Masters, Atom Brands – owner of brands such as That Boutique-y Whisky Company, That Boutique-y Gin Company and Ableforth’s – clinched the overall Grand Spirit Master 2017 title, having accumulated the most points from throughout the year.

“We truly couldn’t be more delighted at this incredible haul from one of the world’s most highly respected blind tasting competitions,” said Ben Ellefsen, Atom Brands managing director.

“Every single one of our brands carries liquid quality as its most important asset, and we’re simply over the moon that the judges have recognised this in such a spectacular way. The additional award for the efforts we put into packaging those liquids is the final feather in the cap of a simply fantastic year.”

Click through to the following pages to see the complete list of Grand Spirit Masters and Taste Masters for 2017.

Grand Spirit Masters 2017

The Tequila & Mezcal Grand Master 2017 – The Drinks Company

The Rum & Cachaça Grand Master 2017 – Groupe BBS

The Asian Spirits Grand Master 2017 – Purity Vodka

The Brandy Grand Master 2017 – Distell

The Cognac Grand Master 2017 – Cognac Pierre Croizet

The Scotch Whisky Grand Master 2017 – William Grant & Sons

The Gin Grand Master 2017 – Atom Brands

The Irish Whiskey Grand Master 2017 – Irish Distillers

The World Whisky Grand Master 2017 – The Welsh Whisky Company

The American Whiskey Grand Master 2017 – Balcones

The Luxury Grand Master 2017 – Halewood International

The Vodka Grand Master 2017 – Purity Vodka

The Travel Retail Grand Master 2017 – The Glenmorangie Company

The Liqueur Grand Master 2017 – Mangrove UK

The Speciality Spirits Grand Master 2017 – Belsazar

The Pre-mixed Grand Master 2017 – Aldi Stores

The Design & Packaging Grand Master – Atom Brands

Overall Grand Spirit Master 2017 – Atom Brands

Taste Masters 2017

The Tequila & Mezcal Taste Master 2017 – Olmeca Altos Plata

The Rum & Cachaça Taste Master 2017 – Mount Gay XO

The Asian Spirits Taste Master 2017 – Tomintoul Five Decades

The Cognac Taste Master 2017 – Pierre Morin Cognac XO Elegance

The Scotch Whisky Taste Master 2017 – Port Ellen 33 Year Old (That Boutique-y Whisky Company)

The Gin Taste Master 2017 – Citadelle No Mistake Old Tom Gin

The Irish Whiskey Taste Master 2017 – Tullamore Dew Phoenix

The World Whisky Grand Master 2017 – Paul John Indian Single Malt, Peated Selected Cask

The American Whiskey Taste Master 2017 – Old Forester Statesman Kentucky Straight Bourbon Whiskey

The Luxury Taste Master 2017 – Glenmorangie Signet

The Vodka Taste Master 2017 – AMG Frozen. Mild

The Travel Retail Taste Master 2017 – Craigellachie 33 Years Old

The Liqueur Taste Master 2017 – Vedrenne Peach Liqueur

The Speciality Spirits Taste Master 2017 – Bottega Vermouth Rosso

The Pre-mixed Taste Master 2017 – Striganov Vodka Crush Guava

The Design & Packaging Masters ‘Best in Class’ 2017 – Woolf Sung Collection ‘The Hunter’