Omnivore - Major spirits competitions in Atlanta this week

Spirits of the Americas and Spirits of Mexico seek out the best, from aguardiente to zhumir


? Back in March, one of the most respected names in global spirits and wine competitions put down a stake in Atlanta. The group behind the UK-based International Wine and Spirit Competition announced the formation of IWSC Group North America, with Atlanta Food and Wine Festival founders Dominique Love and Elizabeth Feichter in leadership roles. Thanks to this new partnership, two already established spirits industry competitions - Spirits of Mexico and Spirits of the Americas - are now taking place here in Atlanta this week.
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? Both competitions involve industry pros (including local Navarro Carr, of the Sound Table) evaluating and ranking products within multiple spirits categories. For Spirits of Mexico, that means focusing on that country’s rich array of agave-based spirits. For Spirits of the Americas, the daunting task is tackling the full spectrum of spirits being produced across North, South and Central America, including the Caribbean. Of course, that means bourbon and rum. But it also means everything from the literal A to Z spanning aguardiente to zhumir.
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? I checked in with Dominique Love to get the scoop on the competitions and Atlanta’s role, and - to give readers a true behind the scenes view of what goes on in these competitions - I’ll also be tasting and scoring alongside the judges this week as they plow through a head-spinning number of spirits. Just watch my @ThirstySouth Instagram and Twitter feeds, or look for hashtag #thirstySOA15, for the blow-by-blow report of three days of intense judging inside the dark recesses of the Loews Atlanta Hotel.
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? The competition wraps with an announcement party celebrating the winners at Venkman’s on Thursday night (open to the public - $60 gets you cocktails, food, and the right to party down with Venkman’s Yacht Rock Thursday festivities). First, though, here’s my Q&A with Love on the two IWSC competitions here in Atlanta this week.
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?These are well established competitions, so why Atlanta?
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? In the past, both of these competitions have taken place in California... and there’s just a lot of innovation (in terms of spirits) taking place across the Americas. Atlanta is an easy destination for our judges, and its now the new home of IWSC Group North America. The competitions are a great source of fodder for our other events... there are so many products on the market, and we’re able to get to the very best of them and find ways to incorporate them throughout the year in our festivals or Whiskies of the World (another IWSC Group North America event)... or even share back to the UK and our parent company, and they’re always interested in what’s going on in the Americas. It’s a great source of research and finding trends. 
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? What’s unique about Spirits of Mexico and Spirits of the Americas?
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? There are so many competitions popping up... and our goal (with Spirits of Mexico and Spirits of the Americas) is to bring them up the standards of the International Wine and Spirit Competition, which is the oldest and most prestigious competition in the world. We’ve got great judges... we’ve fine-tuned the categories, we’ve been training with IWSC leaders on the judging criteria, the only thing we don’t have that IWSC has an independent scientific laboratory that is testing the products as well. Now that we’re on board, there’s a lot more collaboration across these events and that benefits everyone. The biggest thing is the logistics... all the bottles, the blind tasting (approach) is really key... it’s not just a matter of pouring things out into glasses and ranking them. (It’s also) keeping palates clean to avoid palate fatigue... We’ve tried to pull great judges in who have a lot of experience and know the ideal profiles and elements in a great spirit. 
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? For imbibers out there, what’s the benefit of competitions like these?
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? As a consumer, you go in the store and you want to buy a great spirit... how do we (recognize) the many spirits out there and bring the cream of the crop to the top? There are these three days of judging... but we’ll also be doing things over the next year to allow consumers to access these lists and see when they go to buy things which ones are award winners, so we can be helpful to consumers in making those choices. In Atlanta alone in the past couple years, you have distilleries popping up... and the same is true all over... the growth is really rapid, and how do you (the consumer) distinguish? These competitions are really great especially for the smaller brands to show people what’s in their back yard or in the next region... (the spirits brands) that are doing really great stuff. 
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? Watch the @ThirstySouth Instagram and Twitter feeds, or look for hashtag #thirstySOA15, for behind the scenes updates from the judging tables this week.