About The American Distillers' Awards

True Peer Review

The American Distillers’ Awards is set to raise the bar and toast to excellence in the world of fine spirits. Open to all distilleries, and all products produced in the United States, this competition sets itself apart from the others as being the only event judged exclusively by other distillers and distillery owners.

Our goal is to create a true peer-review competition that not only awards the best in each class, but provides useful learned feedback.

We know you want your awards to have meaning behind them; and your products deserve to be evaluated by the best. Our esteemed panel of distillers will have the opportunity to evaluate each entry based on flavor profile, innovation, quality and overall presentation.

Rules, Dates, & Deadlines

Timeline:

SUBMISSIONS NOW OPEN
Judging begins Summer 2024
See the Contest Submission for all dates

Pricing:

$250 for first entry
$225 for subsequent entries
Option to include all submissions to be judged on "Label and Bottle Design & Art"

Entering the Comptition/Submissions:

Each product entry must submit two (2) 750 ml bottles for sampling and promotional purposes.
Canned Cocktails must submit six (6) cans for judging
Clearly mark shipping container with ’Samples-not for resale’

Ship to:

American Distillers' Awards

3835 Old Buckingham Road, Suite A

Powhatan, VA 23139

Qualifications, Scoring & Judging Process

All Distilleries based and produced in the United States qualify for submission

Scoring:

Each submission is rated in Appearance, Aroma, Mouth-Feel, Flavor, & Finish for a total possible score of 100. The final awarded score will be based on the average scored by the Judges.

Medals are awarded by the following ranking:

Gold: 91-100
Silver: 81-90
Bronze: 71-80

Winners will receive:

Custom die-cast medal
Rights of use for digital medal graphics
Inclusion on press release
Promotional listing on website, Facebook, & Instagram

This quality based scoring system allows for medals to be awarded through independent evaluation, rather than through comparison against other submissions. It is possible, and likely, that multiple gold, sliver, or bronze awards will be awarded in each category. It is also possible that not all three medals will be awarded in each category.

By using this method of scoring and medaling, distilleries are not competing against each other, but rather being evaluated on an individual basis

Distilleries will receive their overall score along with notes from each Judge, when given.

Accepted categories for this event are:

Bourbon, Single Malt, American Whiskey, Finished Whiskey, Rye, Flavored Whiskey, Moonshine, Flavored Moonshine, Clear Rum, Spiced Rum, Aged Rum, Flavored Rum, Vodka, Flavored Vodka, Gin, Agave Spirits, Brandy, Cordials, & Canned Cocktails

BEST IN CLASS:

The highest overall score in each category will be awarded with a gold "Best in Class" award

DISTILLERY OF THE YEAR:

Each Distillery that submits (4) four or more products for judging will automatically be entered.
An average of each score will be combined to determine the overall Distillery Score
Distilleries that enter more than four bottles, only the top scoring four submissions will be used to calculate for Distillery of the Year
ONE Distillery will be awarded Distillery of the Year and will receive a special award and announcement recognition

Judging Process

ALL the Judges in this competition are themselves distillers. Your submissions will be carefully evaluated by other producers and scores will reflect real industry insight.

This is a double* blind competition. Judges are only aware of the category in which they are judging. Each submission is separated into sample bottles, assigned a category code and submission number, and distributed to the judges.

*The only exception is any products submitted by distilleries associated with one of the judges. In these cases, only the American Distillers' Awards Competition Director is aware of the products identity when assigning to judges for evaluation. These products will still be judged blindly, but will be assigned accordingly so that no judge receives his or her own product.