Whisky Awards Finalists Announced

29 Jan 2010

The Scottish Parliament building at Holyrood has never been as fragrant as yesterday afternoon when 53 Speyside malts were nosed and tasted by our panel of expert judges.

Now in its sixth year, the Spirit of Speyside Whisky Awards are firmly established as one of the most prestigious annual whisky competitions. The first round of the competition was a blind tasting which took place at Holyrood yesterday (by kind invitation of Richard Lochhead MSP).

The finals of the Awards will take place during the Spirit of Speyside Whisky Festival at the Benromach Distillery, Forres just before the start of the Opening Dinner on Thursday 29th April. Visitors to the Festival can take part in the final judging process. The winners will be announced during the Opening Dinner. 

The judges selected two finalist for each of the three categories: 

Up to 12 years old:

• Aberlour 10yo
• Balvenie Doublewood 12yo

13-20 years old:

• Aberlour 16yo
• Mannochmore 18yo

Over 20 years old:

• Benromach Vintage 1968
• The Glenlivet 25 yo

Jim Royan, chairman of the Spirit of Speyside Whisky Festival Board, said: "These whiskies are the expressions of the highest quality of Speysides' wonderful spirit. I'm sure that their success will confirm their international recognition."

After taking part in the judging process MSP Richard Lochhead hosted a reception in the parliament attended by MSPs, whisky industry representatives, representatives of the tourism sector, national and international press and others.

Local MSP Richard Lochhead said: "I always enjoy hosting this event and am honoured to have been asked to judge once again this year. The reception is always well attended providing a great opportunity to promote Speyside whisky as well as the festival itself. The Spirit of Speyside festival is a firm favourite for literally thousands of people and I look forward to it every year."