How Spirits Competitions Work
Industry panels vs. consumer judging: who tastes, how spirits are scored, what a medal means, and how to choose the right competition for your brand.
Enter Your BrandAbout SIP AwardsTwo Kinds of Judging Panel
Industry panels
Many spirits competitions are judged by trade professionals such as bartenders, buyers, writers and educators. Their medals tell you how experienced tasters and the trade rate a spirit.
Consumer judges
Consumer-judged competitions put the people who buy spirits on the panel. At the SIP Awards, anyone with professional ties to the spirits industry is excluded, and judges are not paid.
Blind tasting
Whichever panel is used, a credible competition serves spirits blind, so judges rate what’s in the glass, not the label or the bottle.
How Spirits Are Scored
Competitions score in different ways. Some use a points scale, some have panels discuss each entry and agree on a medal together, and some combine several judges’ scores with a formula. When you compare competitions, ask how many judges taste each spirit, whether tasting is blind, and how scores become medals.
At the SIP Awards: judging takes place both at in-person events and at home, and both are controlled and blind. Spirits are served unlabeled, undiluted and chilled in a Neat glass. Consumer judges score aroma, taste and finish from 1 to 5. Some samples are served twice to weigh each judge’s palate consistency, and a proprietary algorithm sets medals based on category size, number of judges and score trends.
What a Medal Means
A medal is only as meaningful as it is hard to win. Look at whether every entry gets an award or whether some go home without one.
At the SIP Awards: medals are Best of Class, Platinum, Double Gold, Gold, Silver and Bronze. There are no participation awards, and about 1 in 6 brands receives no medal. Brands that win medals two or more years in a row receive the Consumers’ Choice Award.
How to Choose a Competition
Know your audience
Selling to the trade? An industry panel’s view matters. Selling to shoppers? Ask what consumers think.
Check the judging
Who judges, is tasting blind, and how many judges taste each entry?
Check the medals
How are medals set, and does every entrant win something?
Look past the medal
Feedback, marketing materials and exposure to buyers add value after the results.
Many brands enter both kinds. An industry medal and a consumer medal answer different questions.
Why SIP Uses Consumers
Founder Pouya “Paul” Hashemi noticed that consumers’ opinions were not taken into account, and that tastings and evaluations were done by professionals. Since 2009, the SIP Awards has asked one simple question: what about the consumer’s opinion?
Judges are screened spirit enthusiasts chosen from all demographics, so brands get feedback from the people who buy spirits. In 2026, more than 400 consumers judged 1,325 entries from 48 countries.
How SIP Judging Works
Let Consumers Judge Your Spirit
Blind-tasted by the people who buy spirits.
Enter Your BrandHow SIP Judging Works