Blind Tasting Competition

Join the competition!

For years, whisky fans from all over the world have been looking forward to the annual Whisky Blind Tasting Competition. In 12 consecutive days, whisky fans are asked to give their best guess of the whisky they are tasting blind. The results are processed daily in a ranking where spectacular shifts are the rule rather than the exception. Many well-known whisky tasters have participated in recent years and even more whisky amateurs have discovered their talent for analyzing whisky. Due to the very specially selected mix of whiskies that are tasted during the competition, the Blind Tasting Competition is not only a competition, but also a journey of discovery according to your own taste and preferences. In addition, it offers enthusiasts the opportunity to taste exclusive and non-regular whiskies. In recent years, for example, the Feis Isle, 21 year old Bowmore Aston Martin and unique releases from Springbank or Macallan have been part of the tasting.

How does it work?

The Blind Tasting Competition sample box contains 12 whisky samples, numbered 1 to 12 and can be purchased on the Best of Wines website. The competition will start on November 1, which means that sample number 1 must be tasted and analyzed on November 1st before 22:00 CET. Each participant can indicate the following under his or her name: distillery, region of origin, age and alcohol percentage. After 22:00 CET, the registration of the sample closes and the bottle will be revealed. Based on the answers, participants are awarded points daily and the ranking is drawn up and announced.

How do I participate?

Go to Best of Whiskies and order the sample box. After completing the order and once the Blind Tasting Competition is live, an extra button will be added to the account page that gives access to the Blind Tasting Competition. And that's it!

If you order multiple sample boxes for your friends, family, colleagues etc, please have them send us an email so we can grant their account access to the competition.

For those who prefer not to participate under their own name, there is the possibility to participate under a nickname.

Are there any prizes to win?

Of course! First of all, there is the eternal fame and the honor of having participated in the Blind Tasting Competition 2023. In addition, the 3 participants with the highest score will receive the following prizes, which can be used as a voucher with an order at Best of Whiskies.

1st place: €500,- plus a free sample box for the blind tasting competition 2024
2nd place: €250,- plus a free sample box for the blind tasting competition 2024
3rd place: €100,- plus a free sample box for the blind tasting competition 2024

The participants on the 4th and 5th place will receive a free sample box for the blind tasting competition 2024.

For participants: about the competition

The whiskies that will be tasted are selected as follows:

- All samples are Scotch single malt whiskies
- Consecutive samples will never come from the same region
- Each region occurs at least once during the competition
- The minimum alcohol percentage is 40%

The following information must be entered (via dropdown box):

- The distillery (40 points)
- The region (20 points)
- The age (max 20 points, 10 points deduction for each year difference)
- Alcohol percentage (20 points, 1 point deducted for every 0.1% difference)
- The rating of the whisky. No points can be earned here, but we ask this to determine the best whisky in the competition according to the participants. 

Looking back at previous editons of the Blind Tasting Competition:

Participants of the competition came from amongst others The Netherlands, Belgium, Germany, Estonia, Scandinavia, America, Japan, Taiwan, Israel, Canada, France, United Kingdom, United States, Singapore and South Korea. During the previous editions, we often received very positive reactions from surprised tasters when the bottle of the day was revealed. For example:

Lagavulin 12 years Diageo special release 2021
Fettercairn 14 years old Infrequent Flyers
Springbank 12 years old Cask Strength
Bowmore 21 years old Aston Martin
Highland Park 17 years old WhiskyNerds