Monday, May 02, 2016

GLENFIDDICH MAKES CLEAN SWEEP AT SPIRIT OF SPEYSIDE WHISKY FESTIVAL AWARDS

Glenfiddich Distillery has swept the board at the 2016 Spirit of Speyside Whisky Festival Whisky Awards, collecting a hat-trick of honours.

The Dufftown distillery picked up first place in all three categories after their malts were selected by the whisky-loving public in a series of blind tastings.
Glenfiddich 21 Year Old - winner of  the 21 Year Old and over category

Glenfiddich 12 Year Old triumphed over Glen Grant’s 10 Year Old in the 12 Year or younger category, and also took the title for the 13 to 20 Year category with its 18 Year Old, winning over Glen Moray’s 16 Year Old.

Glenfiddich 21 Year Old won the category for single malts aged over 21, beating the Cragganmore 25 Year Old 2014 Special Release into second place.

Judging sessions were held across Speyside during the Festival, and one was also held in specialist Scottish shop Scotia Spirit in Cologne. This was the first time a judging session was held out of the local area. Owner Peter Klas is a long-term friend of the Festival and it is hoped the success of the overseas judging session will lead to more international destinations being added to future events.

Commenting on the awards, James Campbell, Festival chairman James Campbell, said: “Huge congratulations to Glenfiddich for such a tremendous success at this year’s awards, we have never had one single distillery win all three titles before. Our awards are considered as one of the industry’s highest accolades, as the winners are determined by the people who matter the most –the whisky-drinking general public.”

The finalists in all three categories were whittled down into a shortlist of entries earlier in the year by a panel including industry experts, retailers and whisky writers.

Posted by Steve Rush