Hood River Distillers Brands Win at 2021 Ultimate Spirits Challenge
The Ultimate Spirits Challenge has released the winners of its annual competition and we are proud to announce that Hood River Distillers’ brands were awarded the following:
Bourbon Barreled Big Gin – 93 Points (Excellent, Highly Recommended)
Tasting Notes: Bold, classic gin aromas of jasmine, juniper, cardamom, and tangerine zest are supported by slightly exotic hints of cinnamon and dried mango. The Bourbon barrel aging reveals itself on the palate, where bold juniper is softened by malty grains and vanilla. Wonderfully executed.
Big Gin – 92 Points (Excellent, Highly Recommended)
Tasting Notes: Vibrant elements of crushed peppercorns, lemon zest, crushed cardamom, cucumber, eucalyptus, and aromatic flowers stand out, yet remain balanced throughout the profile of this impressive gin. The palate offers a rollercoaster of spicy and juicy citrus fruit notes. Perfect gin for a dry martini.
McCarthy’s Oregon Single Malt – 92 Points (Excellent, Highly Recommended) (Finalist)
Tasting Notes: This effusive and characterful whiskey is dominated by bright notes of apple skin, dried orange peel, and dried grass. The finish has some bitterness with marzipan and freshly cut oak taking over from the fruit and earth-dominated mid-palate.
Trail’s End Kentucky Straight Bourbon finished with Oregon Oak – 92 Points (Excellent, Highly Recommended)
Tasting Notes: Gentle, roasted corn, brown sugar, lemon pie, and charred wood aromas rise from the glass along with a hint of rose petals. Mellow and lifted on the palate, it shows flavors of sugar cookie, white peach, creme brulee, and spice.
ABOUT THE ULTIMATE SPIRITS CHALLENGE
The Ultimate Spirits Challenge claims to be the World’s Best Spirit Competition. Their mission is to create and establish a new and higher standard of evaluation for spirits that provides accurate, meaningful and useful results in recognizing and promoting the quality of beverage alcohol products. It accomplishes this by the integrity of its people and approach, its innovative and exacting methodology, and through the credibility of its results. Ultimate Spirits Challenge’s methodology raises the standard for competitive beverage evaluation by instituting more rigorous judging. Each product is reviewed under ideal tasting conditions over a period of time that allows the product to express its best characteristics. Each product is evaluated blind by panels in multi-stages assessments to remove any inherent or individual bias. The judging panel is led by F. Paul Pacult, called “America’s foremost spirits authority” by Forbes.com. He has been the publisher/editor of F. Paul Pacult’s Spirit Journal since 1991. Today, F. Paul Pacult’s Spirit Journal is recognized as the world’s premier and most trusted independent source of spirits reviews and evaluations.
In addition to the point system, recommendations and tasting notes, they also provide challenge awards, recognizing excellence with a Chairman’s Trophy and Finalist status for each judging category. You’ll see above that McCarthy’s was awarded with a Finalist award.
