You don’t have to search or scroll too far through whisky’s marketing landscape these days before you encounter a reference to an award. Gold medals, Double Golds, Trophy winner, Best-in-category…the list goes on. To anyone marketing a whisky – whether it’s the distillery itself or a retailer looking to promote a particular product on their shelf – being able to say that the brand won an award should be a huge accolade and an indicator of quality. But when it comes to the confusing world of whisky awards, there’s an increasing degree of scepticism creeping on to the podium.
Let’s make it clear from the outset that this piece is not intended to belittle or undermine any distillery or brand that recently won a whisky award, nor to cast shade on any specific awards program or award-giving entity. But given that distilleries and brands are using awards as a selling point in their marketing arsenal and playbook, it’s important that consumers have at least some awareness as to what the badges, tokens, and ribbons might actually denote. So let’s look first at some of the issues and criticisms that are causing concern…