Spirit of Speyside Whisky Festival crowns its top malts

The winners have been crowned in the Spirit of Speyside Whisky Festival Whisky Awards. Almost 350 votes were cast in the competition, which is the only awards where the winners are determined by members of the whisky-loving public.  With that in mind the votes have now been counted and can be found below: 

12yo and under

Winner:

BenRiach 12yo Sherrywood – letter B

Runner Up

Knockando 12yo – Letter A

13 – 20 yo

Winner:

Balvenie 15yo Single Cask – letter K

Runner Up:

Singleton 18yo – Letter L

21yo and over

Winner:

Cardhu 21yo – Letter Q

Runner up:

Glenfarclas 30yo – Letter P

Distillery Editions

Winner:

Tamdhu 10yo Limited Edition – Letter Y

Runner up:

Glenfarclas 25yo Distillery Edition – letter X

The winner of the 12-year-old and under category was Benriach 12 year old Sherry Wood, while the title for malts aged 13 to 20 years went to Balvenie 15 year old Single Cask.

In the 21-year-old category Cardhu 21 year old topped the poll, while the section for distillery special editions went to Tamdhu 10 year old Limited Edition.

Eight finalists were voted on at a series of roving judging sessions across Speyside in the run up to and during the Festival. The malts had previously been shortlisted by a panel of industry leaders, acclaimed writers and specialist retailers.

Penny Ellis, a director of the Spirit of Speyside Festival and organiser of the awards, says, “These malts join a long and illustrious list of previous winners. It is a huge honour to receive one of these awards because they are voted for by the public, as opposed to a panel of experts, and are not influenced by any kind of consumer loyalty or external influences.

“I would like to thank Festival visitors for taking the time to cast their votes at the 10 roving judging sessions that were held across Speyside. The awards’ judging sessions have grown to become one of our most popular events, and are loved by people who are just starting to learn about whisky as well as those with expert knowledge.”

The awards are sponsored by coppersmiths Forsyths of Rothes – the company responsible for building many of the pot stills in which the shortlisted single malts were distilled. They were presented at a ceilidh in Glen Grant Distillery in Rothes following the final round of judging.