The Scotch Malt Whisky Society  

The Australian Malt Whisky Tasting Championship 2013 

Winners Announced

On Friday 21^st June, whisky enthusiasts from all over Australia flew in to compete in the annual Australian Malt Whisky Tasting Championship.  A major event on the Australian whisky calendar ever since 1989, this year 60 competitors and a large number of spectators gathered in the Dinosaur Gallery at The Australian Museum in Sydney to put their tastebuds to the test and find out who would be the newly-crowned Australian Malt Whisky Tasting Champion.

With everyone seated, competitors had 30 minutes to assess the eight whiskies poured before them in a blind-tasting format.  Each competitor was provided with a list of nine possible whiskies – the eight on the table, plus one red herring.  The task was to correctly identify which whisky was which.

This year’s line up of whiskies featured a large number of Islay/peated malts that were similar in style, and it took some pretty experienced and knowledgeable palates to discern them apart.

With the competition part of the night out of the way, the party began – whisky cocktails made with Monkey Shoulder, cask-strength drams from The Scotch Malt Whisky Society, and The Balvenie & cheese matches were amongst the offerings to be enjoyed.  And halfway through the party, it was time to announce the winner!

Craig Daniels from Adelaide, and previous winner in 2008, took out the title with a near perfect score. Craig’s reward, apart from significant bragging rights, is a trip for two to Tasmania including airfares and accommodation, with a two-day personally guided whisky tour of Tassie’s distilleries in the Hobart area.  1^st prize is valued at over $2,500.

Second place went to James Tait from Sydney, along with a very impressive $1,000 worth of cask strength, single cask, single malt whiskies from The Scotch Malt Whisky Society.

Third place went to Ian Titman from Sydney, who won himself $500 to spend at The Oak Barrel (a bottle shop in Sydney renowned for its whisky range) plus two tickets to their upcoming Whisky Fair later in the year.

The whisky and food flowed for the rest of the evening, and whilst the event revolved around a competition, it was clear that camaraderie, fun, and the spirit of whisky enjoyment was the clear winner on the night!  And those that didn’t get on the podium this year will no doubt wake up tomorrow and get themselves in training for a further attempt next year!

The Winner - Craig Daniels

Notes  

The Scotch Malt Whisky Society began in the late 1970’s when a group of discerning friends in Edinburgh bought a single cask of malt whisky and shared it amongst themselves.  The group of friends grew and grew, with subsequent cask purchases, and in 1983, the group syndicated as a Society.

Today, the Society has over 26,000 members around the world with branches in 17 countries. It bottles over 350 single casks a year for its members from a range of more than 129 distilleries.

Members can choose from the world’s widest selection of single cask, single malt whiskies with only the very best selected and approved by the Society’s respected Tasting Panel.

The Society has been active in Australia since 2002, holding extremely popular and well-attended frequent whisky tasting nights in each of the capital cities around Australia all through the year for both its members and the general public.

The Australian Malt Whisky Tasting Championship is a blind tasting competition that has been run in Australia since 1989.  It was held annually in Adelaide from 1989 until 2002, then was in recess for six years until The Scotch Malt Whisky Society resurrected the competition in 2008.  It is open to national and international competitors, and is now an annual event held in Sydney and hosted by The Scotch Malt Whisky Society.