The London Spirits Competition is being launched to identify and reward those brands and products that consumers actually want to buy, rather than simply recognize good quality spirits for their distilling ability alone.

To be a real success a spirit brand has to be bought by consumers, be it on a supermarket shelf or a restaurant or bar's list. The London Spirits Competition will single out and highlight the spirit brands on sale in the UK and International markets that are truly commercially successful.

All winners in the London Spirits Competition will have been judged in three key areas:

Quality.

All spirits will be initially tasted blind to assess their quality and how drinkable they are they for consumers in their target area. The London Spirits Competition wants to highlight and reward spirits that are enjoyable to drink, not just high point scorers where one glass in enough.

Value for money.

 Spirits will then be assessed to see how much value for money they are offering their target spirits drinkers at that price point.

Packaging and design.

As the majority of the spirits brands are bought with our eyes, the London Spirits Competition will recognize spirits that stand out on the shelf, or on a back bar, and will assess how well suited that design or packaging is to their target consumer group.

The London Spirits Competition has been introduced to give consumers a clear guide to the spirits that are best suited to their tastes and give them maximum value for money. The majority of other spirits competitions only judge the spirit blind and take into no consideration how much it might cost, or even have an idea of what it looks like.

With so many products now on the market, it is increasingly confusing and difficult for all spirits drinkers, both enthusiasts, and the occasional drinkers, to really know, with any great confidence, what they are buying.

The London Spirits Competition has been created to put consumers back in charge. To give them the reassurance that any of the award-winning spirits with the LSC logo will have been based on how drinkable they are, how much value for money they offer, and what they actually look like.

Each of the London Spirits Competition winners will receive either a Gold, Silver or Bronze award with separate weighted marks awarded by the judges for the spirit's quality and drinkability, value for money, and packaging and design. 

Sid Patel, CEO of Beverage Trade Network and the organizer of the London Spirits Competition, said: “We all need help when buying spirits. There is simply so much choice out there. But at the end of the day, we want to invest our money in spirits that we actually want to drink, be it with our partner or our friends. We want to highlight and reward those spirits that have the winning combination of quality in terms of drinkability, value for money and that look great too.”

To help identify those spirits, the London Spirits Competition will work with a panel of commercially focused buyers currently working in either developing new spirits for the market or directly involved in buying spirit from all channels of the industry.

“Our judges will be making decisions every day about the commercial viability of the spirits presented to them,” added Patel.

“We want them to regard the London Spirits Competition as an extension to the great work they are already doing in their respective businesses. Together we can help create a selection of the most robust and commercially viable spirits available in the world.”

Judging for the London Spirits Competition takes place in March 2018 with the winners announced shortly after. Entries for the competition will open for all domestic and international spirits on November 1, 2017.

About London Spirits Competition:

The London Spirits Competition has been created exclusively by the Beverage Trade Network, the US drinks events, services, business, and publishing group, dedicated to helping drinks producers and brand owners get closer to the buyers, distributors and retailers that can bring their products to market. It is part of a new wider London drinks awards initiative that also includes The London Spirits Competition. The London Spirits Competition is being launched to identify and reward those brands and products that consumers actually want to buy, rather than simply recognize good quality spirits for their spirits-making ability alone. To be a real success a spirit brand has to be bought by consumers, be it on a supermarket shelf or a restaurant or bar's list. The London Spirits Competition will single out and highlight the wine brands on sale in the UK and International markets that are truly commercially successful. Read more about how it works here.