Judging Formula

To win a USA Spirits Ratings award you will need to score highly in all three areas of our judging criteria. You might have an outstanding quality spirit, but if the price and packaging is not right, you will not be recognized by the USA Spirits Ratings. There is no point, for example, in having a 95 points if it does not look good or offer consumers great value for money. Those points mean it will remain highly respected within the trade, but it will also remain largely unsold on the shelf or languishing on a restaurant’s spirits list.

That is why USA Spirits Ratings is the leading spirits ratings in the USA with the rationale to rate spirits per the preferences of the consumer and trade and rewarding spirits as such. Spirits entries will be judged by their Quality, Value and Packaging.

Scoring System

Q (Quality Score) + Value Score (V) + Package Score (P) = USA Spirits Ratings Score.

Quality Score: will be marked out of 100

Value Score: will be marked out of 100

Package Score: will be marked out of 100

A separate weighted score will be given for each of the three parts of the judging process (Quality gets twice the weight). The scores will be calculated with other judges for the same product on the team to give a final score out of 100 from which individual prizes will be awarded.

Quality Score

Quality will be assessed based on how agreeable the spirits is for its target customer and chemical analysis. USR will measure quality by Appearance, Aroma, Body, Taste and Aftertaste.

Value Score

Value in this context means how well the spirits is priced based on its quality. If you think it offers excellent value, the score should be close to 100 of 100 and if you think it should be priced lower, then the score should be low. The metric to be used here is the retail price vs quality.

Packaging Score

Packaging in this context is measured by how well you think the spirits will be perceived by the consumer. This includes label, bottle colour, bottle shape and closure. This does not involve boxes, cartons and bags. It is how you think the product will be perceived when placed on spirits shelf amongst thousands of other spirits.

Who are the Judges?

The USA Spirits Ratings(USR) will be assessed and judged by a leading panel of top-level spirits buyers with current direct commercial buying responsibility. The list of judges will be drawn from leading retail chains, wholesalers, distributors and on-trade groups across a variety of channels and disciplines including multiple retailing, convenience stores, cash and carries, specialist retailers, casual and fine dining, hospitality and the travel industry.