Today in the BBAs, we take a look at how the vodkas fared.
Top of the vods was Boatyard this year, climbing from third place to first. Not only our Vodka Champion but runner up in the entire BBAs with 86/100. Quite a showing for the Northern Irish spirit.
Our vodka judges loved it from all sides. The taste (“great nose, creamy, characterful, long fermented?”), the design (“great bottle, like a luxury decanter”), and by our value for money measure (they thought £32.75 rrp was good for the quality). That all meant gold medals across the board.
In second and third were vodkas from Edinburgh’s Holyrood Distillery – namely its Charmed Circle Strong Waters brand. Its Chevalier expression, made from wheat, took gold on taste, design and value for money (rrp £35), with judges remarking at the “heaps of flavour”.
Charmed Circle Strong Waters: Golden Promise, this time made from malted barley, was only a couple of points down, coming in at 83/100. Again, judges noted “bags of flavour”, with a “long finish”, pulling out malt and citrus.
Completing our top five were two products from Finland’s Anora Group that took silver medals across our three measures. Koskenkorva Climate Action and Sauna Barrel scored a very respectable 76/100 and 75/100 respectively.
The Bartenders' Brand Awards follows a three-step process to mirror buying behaviour, with each product blind-tasted, judged on value for money and by design. For more on the methodology behind the BBAs, read more here.