In just a few weeks, world’s top bartenders and spirits buyers will gather in London to judge the 5th annual London Spirits Competition. Spirits are judged on the basis of three primary criteria – quality, value, and packaging – and scored on a 100-point scale. Spirits that scored 90+ points were awarded Gold medals, while spirits that scored 76 to 89 points were awarded Silver medals and spirits between 65 and 75 were awarded Bronze.

The London Spirits Competition is organised by Beverage Trade Network, which organises alcohol beverage industry events and drinks competitions all over the world, including the London Wine Competition and the London Beer Competition.

Those key factors are all taken into account by the judges of the London Spirits Competition, individuals who all know what they are looking for as they are made up of professional bartenders, mixologists, bartenders and consultants who judge and assess products every day of their working lives in just the same way.

That’s what has made the London Spirits Competition in just four years one of the most prestigious and important events in the spirits world. It is rewarding, celebrating and helping to promote the spirits brands that consumers will most want to buy.

Gary Burdekin, Bar Manager at Bradmans Wine Cellar and previous master bartender at TGI Friday’s UK, captures what it means for judges to take part in the competition: “The fact that not only is the spirit being judged, but the design and packaging too. It’s good to be able to give an overall opinion on a spirit. There’s been many times where I like the look of a bottle, but I’ll never buy it because of what’s inside. It singles out the ‘complete’ products from the rest.”

Fellow judge, Daniel Susko, head of Bars at Annabel’s and The Birley Clubs, agrees:

“Acknowledging not only taste and quality, but the appearance and design of the final product completes the feel of the brand as a whole.”

Sid Patel, founder of the London Spirits Competition and chief executive of the Beverage Trade Network that organises the event, alongside the other London Competitions for Beer and Wine, said: “The 2022 competition will be one of the most important year for brands to enter the competition as with the launch of our new UK media asset On-Trade and London Drinks Guide, the winners will get even more awareness along with other new features like tasting notes and cocktails that we have added in the entry zone”.

Brands looking to enter can enter before the deadline and ship samples by Feb 28, 2022.