Why the Major Competitions Excel

Information age and craft distilleries changed the landscape: As craft distilleries multiply, the number of new spirits coming into the market place makes buying decisions nearly impossible without a credible information reference. In a world with too many choices, today’s mobile data driven generations need, use, and depend on others’ evaluations and opinions to make better decisions. How did this happen? 

1. Everyone has a smart phone with readily accessible information. Why try to remember ratings and tasting notes, or purchase the expensive annual spirits “bible”/compendium, when needed information is available in seconds with a few finger jabs.
2. “Fingertip knowledge” provides a relevant starting point for quality and basic buying decisions, freeing up valuable time, effort, and avoiding misspent funds.
3. Print media with all its perfect pictures takes too much time to prepare and get through the distribution channels to bookshelves, and a single expert author cannot possibly taste all the new spirits as they enter the marketplace. Print has become woefully inadequate.

Why competitions are the best source of spirits information: On the internet, anything can happen, and usually does. Most number of clicks wins, and e-knowledge becomes a shield that disguises unqualified bloggers seeking “expert” status. Sarcasm, prurient interest, misinformation, and marketing “fake news” abounds. There are more than a few blogger “wannabees” who express their own tastes with a relatively poor understanding of distilled spirits. Knowledgeable end-users with stronger peer group information checks do not fall prey easily, and they quickly learn how to avoid bad information. 

Spirits judging competitions grew rapidly to become the most important much-needed buying reference, because they sort out the crap by virtue of their singular interest to be the first-choice provider of information to the spirits drinker, and the rating is the result of a panel of judges, giving the numbers higher credibility than a blogger evaluation.

In a few short years, competitions, judging, ratings, and medal awards have become the lifeline for spirits brands and can drive distillers’ success or instrument their downfall. Distillers who do not enter competitions do not get a rating or medal, and doom themselves to obscurity. Spirits drinkers choose not to buy when no information is available. To the spirits drinker, the benefits of competition ratings are:

1. Competition results provide a large single source of information on many spirits
2. Time and money is saved by “weeding out” spirits which have not “won” a passing grade, or have no grade. 
3. By embracing all spirits, competitions bypass misinformation from lesser, unqualified sources with personal favorites (casual bloggers, etc.), and provide a uniform evaluation procedure across the board
4. Rather than searching a brand for a rating, many end-users are searching trusted event results to choose from medal winners and high ratings numbers. Label and package attractiveness has moved to a distant second place as a buying motivator as the public seeks the quality expected from medal winners.

Competitions owe fair judging and faultless procedures to the end user: Now, more than ever before, judging events have a responsibility to the end-user. Success and growth of an event depends on capturing the biggest user audience. New competitions are usually conceived in a “starry-eyed” vision of profit potential, and if the event creators do not grasp the importance of intricate details, the competition will die. As events disappear, even more arise, leaving no question that competitions are here to stay. Those who cater best to consumers’ needs for credible information will wrangle the top spot and carve out their niche by becoming a credible and reliable reference for the consumer.

Any competition event’s major strategic goal is to gain consumer approval as the “go-to” qualified rating guru. This validates that the event is serving its audience and will attract more entries from distillers.  Enlightened event organizers are constantly striving to build consistency and win consumer confidence and acceptance, thus feeding back into the event growth and popularity. 

However, competitions are much more diverse as to ratings, medal awards, and judging quality than immediately apparent. Without a thorough vetting, the consumer can quickly become misguided by those few competitions that place their own profit motive first. Due diligence can determine whether event results are relevant to how the consumer makes decisions. Check out their mission statements, procedures, choice of judges, and if available, how they determine their ratings. The serious competitions usually make most of this information available.

How the right glassware makes the competition more important to the spirits drinker: Both competitions and number of entries are increasing at a staggering annual rate, and many competitions are running 8 flights of 8 or more spirits with different flights for each of as many as 10 panels. 

Cramming more samples into each flight compounds the problem (some place as many as 14 samples per flight). Experienced judges with well-trained noses readily agree that objective evaluation becomes more difficult as number of samples increase. However, the unspoken truth is that by the time an evaluator realizes that he/she is having trouble picking out specific aromas, many samples may have been compromised. No one wants to own up to that.

Spirits contain ethanol at levels of 40% ABV (alcohol by volume) or higher. Ethanol is anesthetic, and numbs the sense of smell by isolating (locking out) olfactory sensors, reducing efficiency.  Regardless of training or experience, olfactory fatigue due to ethanol overexposure is a common occurrence, and is no reflection on the evaluator’s ability. In competition events, by the seventh sample your sense of smell has been affected to the detriment of your ability to judge and rate. What if you were the distiller who’s sample was 8 or higher? You probably wouldn’t get a fair shake from the judges, and flights with many samples become a luck of the draw for a good rating. What causes this problem? Glassware that shoves high alcohol concentration up your nose.

It takes 3-5 minutes for the mucous layer (epithelium) in the nasal cavity to replace itself and remove residual alcohol and aromas to reinstate maximum olfactory efficiency. It would be ridiculously time consuming to wait for 3 minutes between each sniff, so it becomes necessary to explore other ways to reduce ethanol at the nose, freeing up more sensors for a more precise evaluation, and at the same time keeping the competition moving along within an acceptable time frame.

The best answer to reducing ethanol is right in your hand. Common spirits glasses (with or without stem – see pic) are all derived from the copita, which was introduced to the UK in the late 1700’s. Copita (little cup) is a small convergent-rim wine (sherry) glass designed to handle low alcohol (20% ABV) with a tulip shape and narrow bowl diameter. With some minor evolution, it and its many derivatives stand today as the common glass used for drinking and evaluating spirits. However, everything about the design, including its tulip and chimney shape derivatives, is counter to obtaining a good evaluation sample. How could this be - with glassware that has been popular for many decades?

The big mistake – using chimney and tulip shaped glasses: In a world where science and technology is king, why are we using ineffective glassware? In the absence of well-documented history, we can piece together most of the major points that contributed to copita and its many tall, skinny, tulip or chimney shaped derivatives becoming the most popular spirits glasses in the world.  

1. The most obvious reason is size. Copita styles hold about 1 ? oz., the generally accepted single serving for straight spirits. 
2. Copitas are too small to swirl effectively, and the advice of most whiskey connoisseurs for decades, “Use our smaller glass, and do not swirl to reduce ethanol at the nose”. This advice fueled USA scotch sales in the 1960’s to sensitive American noses more used to drinking mixed cocktails than straight, neat, spirits.
3.  Adding a few drops of water as a “crutch” to shut down evaporation, and ease the amount of nose-numbing ethanol a/
4. Erroneous Assumption #1: Convergent rim glasses collect all aromas so none escape detection. Small rims focus aromas.
5. Erroneous Assumption #2: No one will ever be able to separate the ethanol aromas from the spirit’s character aromas, so we have to learn to handle ethanol through other devices (waft to acclimate, add water, don’t swirl, smell with mouth open)
6. Whisk(e)y blenders have solidly established their olfactory baseline and procedures for blending, universally incorporating copita style glasses. The consumer adopts the copita style because that’s what blenders use. Non-experts always want do exactly what the experts do.
7. Misguided adoption of the ISO (International Standards Organization) wine glass as an “official” spirits glass (ISO 3591:1977).  The spirits industry quickly noted its’ shape and size similarity to copita, and today, many in the spirits industry refer to the ISO wine glass as an ISO spirits glass, giving copita style glasses some technical credibility. The ISO spirits glass is nonexistent.

Over the past two decades copita styles (tulip, chimney, tall, skinny, tight rim) became accepted as the “go-to” whisk(e)y glass, further punctuated by determined resignation on the part of experts and aficionados that (5) was irrefutable, and we all must learn to live with ethanol nose-numbing. We have met the enemy, and they are us!

Faulty logic leads to the big mistake

Closer examination exposes faulty logic used to “fill-in-the blanks” when science is ignored. In items (2), (3), and (5) referenced in the previous section above, the spirits industry openly admits that the popular copita style off-the-shelf glassware delivers too much nose-numbing ethanol by recommending procedural method “fixes” to alleviate the condition. In addition, (3) actually shuts down evaporation of all aromas, but the reduction of overabundant ethanol is mistakenly perceived as “opening up” the aromas of the spirit.

Truth begins to fade as (4) is only partly true, since the convergent rim actually concentrates already overabundant alcohol, making it nearly impossible to detect most of the spirit’s concentrated character aromas intended for collection/detection by using a small convergent rim. Some manufacturers of these style glasses dwell on the fact that they “focus” the aromas. True, but it also focuses the ethanol, raising the concentration level at the nose, making the evaluation task much more difficult by forcing one to sort through the ethanol to discover basic characteristics. Too much sorting, of course numbs more sensors, reducing olfactory efficiency.

Number (5) was true enough until 2002 when Arsilica Inc. discovered that necking the glass will separate ethanol from character aromas. Blenders (6), commonly dilute their blending components with water to 20% ABV to avoid numbing their olfactory sensors. However, there is a backlash; addition of 1 oz. water for 1 oz. of 40% ABV spirit creates a continuum between water and alcohol that changes the aroma profile b/. The consumer seldom if ever, dilutes their spirit by half for tasting or casual drinking. Now, the blenders have isolated themselves into a situation the end user will probably never experience. In this case using the same style of glass as the blenders without a 50% water dilution backfires on the end user who insists on drinking spirits neat (no dilution), and he is relegated to the customary nose-numbing blast of ethanol delivered by the blenders’ traditional, inadequate wine glass.

As awareness of the International Standards Organization (ISO) glass improved (7), adoption of this glass for spirits rippled through the industry, and the fact that it is a wine standard was conveniently ignored in the search for legitimacy, perpetuating the use of an inadequate glass designed for 20% ABV to evaluate 40%+ ABV spirits. Unfortunately, many spirits professionals are ignorant of this fact, and it is even taught in many certification courses.

Popular Derivatives of Copita Many derivatives of the copita began to appear in the new millennium, most notably Glencairn, introduced in 2001. Its unique appearance, the endorsement of master blenders from five of the largest Scotch whiskey companies, and the 2006 Queen’s Award for Innovation, vaulted the glass to world prominence as the most popular whisky glass for the aficionado. Only one problem: These master blenders intended to use the glass as a lab tool for blending whiskeys diluted by water to about 20% ABV so they could accomplish a blending exercise without blowing out their noses with overabundant alcohol. Admittedly derived from the traditional nosing copita, it exhibits the same basic design characteristics, with an attendant high ethanol concentration and a rim too tall to let the nose get close to character aromas lurking in the bottom of the glass. No doubt a work of art and style with overwhelming popularity, Glencairn, as well as other copita derived glassware caters to those who see ethanol as their friend. In spite of this the Glencairn glass is, and has been, a fine example of great marketing (see Wikipedia, Glencairn whisky glass for verification).

Popular derivatives abound from all major manufacturers, but one fact remains clear: The vast majority of glassware for drinking spirits has been traditionally designed to sell style as modified from the previously accepted, off-the-shelf wine glass (copita) which cannot handle high ethanol spirits. Complete the equation by adding “science” from the marketing department to improve sales. The pic below illustrates the vast difference in delivery of aromas to the nose with two different rim designs, convergent and divergent. Try it yourself with a martini glass and a copita, and for good measure, throw in a standard “rocks” tumbler. Rank them as to number of aromas detected.

NEAT solves the problem for competitions Nine years after discovering “glass-necking” effects, Arsilica, Inc perfected the optimum shape. In February of 2012, the NEAT glass was released for sale to the public. We discovered that by applying basic science, we can control what gets to the nose, dissipate nose numbing ethanol, and display intense character aromas. Our design is patented, and utility patents are pending in USPTO and WIPO, and we have a utility patent in the PRC. Arsilica, Inc. has established NEW principles of good spirits glass design.

1. Keep the glass as short as possible to get the nose closer to the character aromas
2. Make the glass wide while still fitting the hand comfortably to promote swirling, the “engine” that powers aromas to the nose
3. Add a “neck” to the glass to “squeeze and release” aromas, which separates light ethanol from character aromas and creates a “sweet spot” for detecting aromas without nose-numbing ethanol.
4. Provide a rim angle which allows the separated ethanol to escape and not remix with the character aromas.
5. Adding water to a spirit shuts down the ethanol only for tight-rimmed glasses that concentrate ethanol. Large rim glasses do not benefit from addition of water, as water actually raises surface tension, and shuts down ALL evaporation.

The benefits of NEAT for the consumer: better buying decisions, improved ability to find both distilling flaws and attributes, and enhanced ability to detect and enjoy the subtle aromas that were hiding behind nose-numbing ethanol. NEAT allows the more sensitive noses, averse to the pain of straight ethanol, to enjoy spirits, broadening the straight spirits markets. See the you tube video Taste the Truth at https://youtu.be/Mvaqx5valNA

The benefits of NEAT for the competitions: NEAT has become the official judging glass for over 14 major spirits judging competitions. Why is NEAT their official glass of choice? Because there is little chance of olfactory fatigue slowing down the competition, and it unifies the judges’ consensus by enhancing and prominently displaying intense character aromas for all.

The benefits of NEAT for the industry: NEAT exposes ALL characteristics of a spirit, including flaws, poor head and tail cuts, biological and cleanliness problems, and a host of others that were previously hiding behind the ethanol. In short, NEAT raises the bar of expected quality.

See how NEAT slammed the traditional spirits glass to enhance enjoyment. https://youtu.be/Mvaqx5valNA 

The take-away for every spirits drinker: If you believe in spirits judging competitions as a valuable source of information to aid in your buying decisions, check the competitions page at www.theneatglass.com for those who use the NEAT glass as their official tasting and judging glass.

As an end user, nothing improves your abilities better than conscious, deliberate training. Heighten your awareness and fine-tune your aroma library so you can decide exactly what you will drink and collect, with good, factual, reasoning. Purchase sample aroma kits, and practice, practice, practice will place you in a category far above the average spirits aficionado, connoisseur, and enthusiast. Travel one step further and use NEAT as your preferred diagnostic tool. Slainte!

NEAT is the glass of professionals, and you should use it, too. Remember that NEAT is designed to deliver and display aromas to the nose, and the flared rim architecture is absolutely necessary to handle ethanol, improving and enhancing your drinking enjoyment.  Use the same care in drinking as you would a cocktail or martini glass. It’s made for sipping, not chugging, and if you like to “throw it back” you’ll wear it.

Ps: Albert Einstein defined insanity as “Doing the same thing over and over again, expecting a different result.” When drinking straight spirits, why would you expect a great experience from a glass originally designed for wine?

a/ See article on Linked-in Water and Whisky... Why? The Most Misunderstood Spirits Tasting Method in the World – Ever https://www.dhirubhai.net/pulse/most-misunderstood-spirits-tasting-method-world-ever-george-manska

b/ See New Perspectives on Whisky and Water by Martin Lersch, published June 3, 2007 in the periodical Khymos. Details of how the aroma profile changes when the continuum between whisky and water is achieved.

By George F Manska, CSO, Arsilica, Inc. co-inventor of the NEAT glass, May 24, 2017