The New York International Spirits Competition (NYISC) is an annual judging of spirits that occurs each spring in New York City. The competition is unusual in that it is one of the few competitions that relies entirely on judges drawn exclusively from the beverage trade.
According to the competition, only a “retail store buyer, sommelier restaurant beverage director, hotelier, distributor and importer will be our judges.” Per Adam Levy, the founder of the competition and CEO of the parent organization the International Beverage Competition Series, “judges whose livelihood rely upon their skill set, truly know what consumers wants, as they receive on a daily basis the feedback from the consumer of what is good and what will sell.”
The NYISC is one of 10 different competitions that include, among others, the New York International Wine Competition, the Berlin International Spirits Competition, and the Melbourne International Beer Competition.
The competition, as the name suggests, has a strong New York focus. Many of the spirits judged are already being distributed on the East Coast, although according to Levy, the competition has increasingly been used by beverage companies to evaluate the pricing, packaging and positioning of spirit expressions they are planning to introduce into the US market.
This year, despite the complications brought on by the COVID-19 pandemic and the fact that many NYC bars and restaurants were still shuttered in April or were operating with reduced hours and staff, there still was a total of 1,400 entrants judged. The spirits entered came from 34 US states and 39 foreign countries.
The competition hands out the usual array of medals: Double Gold, Gold, Silver and Bronze. In addition, it also gives out awards for the best distillery by category on a state-by-state basis.
For example, this year awards were handed out to Firestone & Robertson, TX Whiskey for the Blended Whiskey Distillery of the Year, Belfour Spirits for Texas Rye Distillery of the Year, Garrison Brothers for the Texas Small Batch Bourbon Distillery of the Year and Balcones Distillery for the Single Malt Distillery of the Year. TX Whiskey was also singled out for the Texas Straight Bourbon Distillery of the Year. Awards were also given out, among others, for Best Vodka Distillery and Best Ready to Drink distillery.
Texas tied with New York for the most distillery awards by state; each had seven, underscoring the strength and quality of craft distillers in the two states. Kentucky by comparison only had five.
Awards were also given out to category winners both in the US and abroad.
Redemption Rye was awarded the Rye Brand of the Year. Redemption has steadily carved out a niche for itself as one of the top rye whiskey producers in the country. Based on a 95% rye mash bill, which it describes a s a Pre-Prohibition Style Revival, it now offers a 46% ABV NAS expression, a 10 YO 58.1% ABV Barrel Proof Rye and an amazing 18 YO 54.95% ABV rye. Only 600 bottles were released of the 18 YO expression. It’s impossible to find. If you stumble across one, grab it.
Heaven’s Door Bootleg Series Vol II, a whiskey expression that draws inspiration from Bob Dylan’s Bootleg Music Series, won the award for Finished Bourbon of the year. Dylan is a co-owner of the Heaven’s Door brand. The company is named for another of his worldwide hits: “Knockin’ on Heaven’s Door” – a song written for the soundtrack of the 1973 film Pat Garrett and Billy the Kid.
Among the top international winners was Paul John, for India Whisky Distiller of the Year. Buskers Irish Whisky, a relative newcomer to the Irish distilling scene won the Single Malt Irish Whiskey of the Year. Bushmills, one of the iconic Irish distillers, was awarded Blended Irish Whiskey of the Year. Glendalough Distillery, another new distillery that has quickly carved for itself a reputation, is one of the most innovative producers on the Island, won Ireland Gin Distillery of the Year.
Hibiki Japanese Harmony was picked the Japanese Whisky of the year.
Mexican Tequila distillers won a slew of awards. Tequila Don Ramon was picked the Añejo Tequila Distillery of the Year, Maestro Dobel was awarded the Extra Añejo Distillery of the Year, 1800 was chosen the Cristalino Añejo Distillery of the Year and Cierto Tequila won the Tequila Distillery of the Year.
Izo Spirits was both the Bacanora Distillery of the Year and the Sotol Distillery of the Year, while Tres Gallos Raicilla won Mexico Raicilla Distillery of the Year.
Scotland’s complex and varied whisky ecosystem was reflected by 14 separate awards in just the whisky category.
Ardbeg was picked the Islay Distillery of the Year; the Speyside honors went to Glen Moray for Speyside Cask Finish Distillery of the Year. The award for Lowland Distillery of the Year went to Glenkinchie.
Awards for best 10 YO single malt went to Talisker for the Highlands, Speyburn for Speyside and Ardbeg won for the Best 10 YO from Islay.
The Singleton of Glendullan took the award for the Best 15 YO Single Malt. GlenAllachie was picked for the best 15 YO Single Malt from Speyside. Aberlour, another Speyside icon, won the Best 16 YO Speyside Single Malt. Lagavulin won the Best Islay 16 YO Single Malt. Glenmorangie took home the award for Best 18 YO Single Malt and Mortlach won the Best 20 YO Single Malt.
Insurrection, Single Grain Scotch 25 YO was awarded Blended Scotch of the Year.
A complete listing of all the medalists from the 2021 NYISC will be posted on the competition’s website on Tuesday May 18.
Cheers
