Malt Maniacs Awards 2016

This is the 14^th edition of MMA and this year has seen The Malt Maniacs receive an astonishingly high quality of entries which have broken all records in its 14 years of existence.

MMA has three categories which are based on high street price and are as follows:

Daily Drams – Whiskies with a retail price up to €50

Premium Whiskies – Whiskies with a retail price between €51 and €150

Ultra Premium Whiskies – Whiskies with a retail price over €150

Within each category we offer five Awards; Supreme Winner, Best Sherried Whisky, Best Peated Whisky, Best Natural Cask Whisky and a “Thumbs Up” Award for a whisky we believe deserves a special mention.

The competition is judged 100% blind, using only numbered samples and also judged only by a panel of our amateur members.

This year’s Supreme Champion is Kavalan Solist sherry cask S060821035, OB for Drink Fun 

Our other Award winners are:

Daily Drams category

Supreme Winner – Nantou “Omar” virgin cask No. 011200006

Best Sherried Whisky – Nantou “Omar” sherry cask No. 21090758 57.6%

Best Peated Whisky – Zuidam “Millstone” cask No. 2627 52.56%

Best Natural Cask Whisky – Nantou “Omar” bourbon cask No. 11090148 56.2%

Thumbs Up – Speciality Drinks “Port Askaig 100 Proof” 57.1% (Awarded for always giving solid performance and this is no exception.)

Premium Whiskies category

Supreme Winner – Kavalan Solist sherry cask No. S090306015 (OB for SWFS) 59.4%

Best Sherried Whisky – Kavalan Solist Sherry Cask No. S090608021A (OB for HNWS) 57.8%

Best Peated Whisky – Port Charlotte 12yo 2003/2016 (61.1%, Blackadder Raw Cask, C#622, Sherry Cask, 284 Bts.)

Best Natural Cask Whisky – Amrut virgin oak & peated barley cask No. 958 (OB for Hot Malt) 60%

Thumbs Up – Zuidam “Millstone” Oloroso sherry cask No.2530 (Awarded for very strong result(s) this year from a mainland EU distillery)

Ultra Premium category

Supreme Winner – Kavalan “Solist” sherry cask No. S060904050 (OB for red on Tree 4^th Ann.) 57.8%

Best Sherried Whisky – Glendronach Oloroso sherry butt No.38 (OB for Beija-Flor & Silver Seal) 59.6%

Best Peated Whisky – Laphroaig 10y PX sherry butt (TWE “Masterpieces” IB range) 50.6%

Best Natural Cask Whisky – Chichibu ex-Hanyu hogshead (OB for LMDW) 61.3%

Thumbs Up – Jura Amoroso Oloroso butts finished in Tawny Port Pipe (OB for LMDW 60^th Anni.) (Awarded for top performance from Jura and for stunning quality from LMDW in their 60^th Anniversary year).

In an unprecedented situation 11 gold medals have been awarded for overall average scores of 90 points or more. Here’s the list of Gold Medal winning distilleries:

Kavalan 6 Gold Medals

Glendronach 2 Gold Medals

Amrut 1 Gold Medal

Inchgower (Adelphi IB) 1 Gold Medal

Chieftain’s Speyside 1 Gold Medal

Full details and scores for MMA 2016 can be found on the Malt Maniacs website http://www.maltmaniacs.net/ and also our Malt Maniacs & Friends (MM&F) facebook page https://www.facebook.com/groups/MaltManiacs/