That Spirits can have a sound is certainly a new experience or even a new approach to many friends of noble Spirits. WSA and the Carinthian cult band "HUMUS" have jointly developed the concept of sounding spirits to catch this magical phenomenon. Six episodes of "The Sound of ..." were produced as short music videos with  much sensitivity and effort: "The Sound of Rum, ... Vodka, ... Gin, ... Bourbon, ... Tequila and ... Alpine Schnapps."

The superstars at the World Spirits Award 2022 once again come from Germany, Austria and Switzerland: 13 x Awards, 13 Spirits of the Year as well as 6 x Distilleries of the Year – that’s the brand-new result.

The complete gin madness

Last year we had already had a „ gin – fifth take“. Actually we had assumed that the number of submitters would decrease by 50% by itself. But we were off track. To our great surprise a new record number of 110 gins were presented to the tasters for assessment.

I think it is worth scrutinising what is happening in the New Western Style Gin segment. This group is a playground for creative people and for experiments concerning aromas. In the EU it is clearly defined that the juniper component in gin must be noticeable. If a gin becomes a pure herb and spice spirit, then this has nothing more to do with the true concept of taste and misleads the consumer with the label on the bottle on the shelf.

Wolfram Ortner’s flagship concerning Spirits is the TV format „Inside World Spirits“. Now he has created a light version, the „Inside World Spirits Shots“.

The title says it all: it’s about short video clips – so-called „shots“ which are naturally published exclusively on the internet whenever they deal with spirits.

The „Spirit Shots“ are presented in a professionally competent, informative and entertaining manner to the viewers: the protagonists are spirits from the whole world and everything else around this „highly spiritual“ subject.

"Golden Efficiency"

Two gin distillers displayed an outstanding performance at the WSA 2021:

• Aeijst won both possible titles with only one gin ("Spirit of the Year" and Award 2021.
• The Cutura Distillery won the title "Spirit of the Year" for each of their two gin products and furthermore the Award 2021 for their Slow Gin - as well Rheinbrand from Switzerland for "Rheinbrand Dry Gin Hemp Edition".

Gin – a never-ending story

At the WSA 2020 we expected to see approximately 30 samples and producers taking part in this difficult category. We were way off – for the fourth year in a row there were about 85 samples to “deconstruct” and award points to.

So why is the hype not dying down? To put it simply: Everyone wants to make a gin that stands out, whether they are a distiller or just an individual with an affinity for gin.

The magical combination in this segment is Gin & Tonic – these two drinks get on like a house on fire. So there is a steady stream of new quality entering the market, ensuring a consistent boom.

The result is that the diversity and quality of “real” gins are holding their own against inventive products (to be precise, herb and spice spirits). Cheers! Here’s to a gin the Queen Mum would have loved.

The WSA presentation of the “crown jewels”:
13 x Awards, 15 x Spirits of the Year und 12 x Distilleries of the Year

The "World Spirits Award" is known among connoisseurs as the highest quality spirits award in the world. The contents and topics are presented on the website www.world-spirits.com. You can find results of the competitions from the past 10 years by utilizing the special tools WSA Spirits-Finder and the WSA Spirits-Calculator. These features are - like many other interesting channels - accessible via registration on our official website.

Two years ago we commissioned Wolfgang Egarter from IT-Solutions to program these tools as an app for IOS devices. The result is impressive and can be downloaded for free via the App Store.

In the past years we have shot 15 exciting episodes of Inside World Spirits. Now they are available for streaming in the protected area at www.world-spirits.com .

Just register on the website and klick the requested episodes!

In each episode more than 15 exciting minutes await you:

AUSTRIA

Gautier Mückstein & Ellinger GmbH, AUSTRIA, 1100 Wien, Hermann Mark Gasse 6, +43-1-8690132, www.gautier-mueckstein.at
Classification: Master-Class Distillery 2022
Gold: Eiercreme Likör, Haselnusscreme Likör, Kräuterbitter, Unsere Haselnuss Spirituose
Silver: Marillen Likör 22,5%vol, Limoncello
Bronze: Himbeer Likör 22,5%vol

F. Fischer 1875, AUSTRIA, 1120 Wien, Wilhelmstraße 21, +43-1-81573-00, www.fischerspirits.com
Classification: World-Spirits Award Participant 2022
Double-Gold: F. Fischer 1875 Dulce de Leche
Gold: Niemetz Schwedenbomben Likör, F.Fischer 1875, Boonekamp Magenbitter

World Spirits Award 2022:
The WSA presentation of the “crown jewels”: 13 x Awards, 13 x Spirits of the Year and 6 x Distilleries of the Year

The “World Spirits Award” is considered by many spirits enthusiasts and producers as the unofficial world championship within the sector. “We have been working with the utmost care towards this position in the market for over two decades with constant fine tuning of quality and innovations.”

The Award Celebration took place in Bad Kleinkirchheim in Austria on 18^th and 19^th March, after it had to be cancelled in the two previous years due to COVID. On 18^th March a distillery tour through Carinthia (Pfau, Jesche and WOB) was held, and on 19^th March the award ceremony took place in Nockln, the Brunnach mountain station of the Bad Kleinkirchheim cable cars.

Despite the difficult COVID times, the WSA 2022 can once again boast a “full house”, which the mastermind Wolfram Ortner and his team are very proud of and grateful for. One of the best qualified juries in the world has tasted 450 samples from 120 distilleries this year and rigorously but fairly evaluated them according to WSA definitions with their high level of expertise. The best of the best were distinguished with the coveted “World Spirits Awards”.

The jury's work is done - the WSA 2021 will once again shine with a "full house" after three years of almost 50 more samples being submitted. This year, probably the best trained jury in the world tasted 439 samples from 114 distilleries and - tough but fair - judged them according to WSA definitions with a lot of know-how. The best of the best were awarded the coveted "World Spirits Awards". The results will be announced on 21 March.

The “World Spirits Guide 2023” has been published – indispensable for friends of spirits from all around the world. The main focus of the content is:
• Hit list of all award-winning products of the WSA 2023
• Distillery classifications
• 107 distillery portraits of the best spirits worldwide
• Tips and trends

The superstars at the World Spirits Award 2019 once again come from Germany, Austria and Switzerland: 14 x Awards, 16 Spirits of the Year as well as 10 x Distilleries of the Year – that’s the brand-new result.

Gin: Soaring for the fourth year

Just as it should be, shortly after the registration deadline for the WSA 2019, we were already overbooked. Our gut feeling was that the zenith of 2018 with 80 products had been far exceeded. However, once the products had been entered into our database for tasting, came the (not so) sobering news that over 90 gins had been entered. Looking at the last four years, the trajectory of this legendary juniper drink has been simply amazing. For us it meant nearly two whole days of ‘gin work’. But what has changed? The New Western Style Gins are clearly trending, with producers hoping to hit the mark when it comes to contemporary taste and fully explore the playground of gin making. But what does that mean for WSA tasting?