S&B Farms Wins 5 Medals in 2020 USA Spirits Ratings Competition
S & B Farms Distillery recently took home five medals from the USA Spirits Ratings Competition in San Francisco, CA. Our Sir Winston Bourbon, Sir Winston Peach, Hog Wild, Private First Class, and Sir Winston Wheat Whiskey scored highly in three different categories – Quality, Value and Packaging – in order to take home medals in the competition. Winning a medal at the USA Spirits Ratings Competition is the ultimate seal of approval, showing that our spirits are high-quality with broad consumer appeal.
Our medals included:
- Sir Winston Bourbon – Gold
- Sir Winston Peach – Silver
- Hog Wild Cinnamon – Silver
- Private First Class – Silver
- Sir Winston Wheat Whiskey – Bronze
One of the guiding principles of the USA Spirits Ratings competition is that all spirits that receive medals in the competition should be those that consumers actually want to buy, whether it is shopping for a spirit at a retail liquor store, or ordering a spirit off a restaurant menu. As a result, the USA Spirits Ratings competition has created an entirely new 100-point rating system that takes into account three different criteria (Quality, Value and Packaging) rather than just spirit making technique or overall taste.
In order to receive a Gold/Silver/Bronze medal at the USA Spirits Ratings competition, a spirits needed to score at least 90/80/70 points.
Sid Patel, CEO and Founder of Beverage Trade Network, emphasized the importance of finding spirits that score highly across all three categories rather than just one, “We feel that it offers a broad, comprehensive approach to evaluating spirits the same way that consumers and trade buyers do.”
“Increasingly, consumers are thinking of spirits as brands, just like they would any other product they find in a supermarket,” said Patel. “That’s why it was so important to include Packaging & Presentation as a key judging criteria – it means that the spirit is being created with a specific type of customer or demographic in mind.”
The judging panel included spirits industry professionals with commercial buying expertise. Judges included professionals from leading retail chains, wholesalers, distributors, specialty retailers and casual and fine dining establishments. The inclusion of so many high-profile judges ensured that spirits awarded medals in competition were those with a high degree of commercial appeal.