Love it or hate it, spirit competitions are here to stay. They have such an important impact on marketing and can put a small shimmer of light on a new and upcoming brand, or it changes the course and turns a brand such as Henry McKenna into an unobtainable. In this episode, Fred Minnick and Kenny Coleman talk about multiple facets of spirits competitions because we have now lived it. We’re both enthusiasts like you so we care what bourbons come out on top, Fred has been a judge forever and now has his own competition called the ASCOTs, and we have our own brand with Pursuit United that has been entered and done favorably in many competitions. Fred and I analyze all these angle about talk about the “pay to play” scenario and how people are selected to be judges along with the best way to enter a competition as a brand owner.

Show Notes:

• Above the Char with Fred Minnick (@fredminnick) talks about the meaning of allocation.
• Fred, how long have you been a part of spirit competitions?
• Why weren’t media members typically invited to be judges?
• Why is this considered “pay to play”?
• Why is there so much confusion based on what category to submit when it’s straight bourbon vs small batch?
• Why would a bourbon society enter a spirits competition?
• What makes someone worthy enough to be a judge at a competition?
• Should you put batch numbers on your competition entry or just the brand?
• Why does MGP always perform well in competitions?
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