tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-17114857.post3884049698620687065..comments2023-09-01T04:51:02.734-07:00Comments on Dowd's Spirits Notebook: SF World Spirits a heavy medal eventUnknownnoreply@blogger.comBlogger3125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-17114857.post-88308382168375510622008-04-11T09:29:00.000-07:002008-04-11T09:29:00.000-07:00An update on the controversy:One of the original j...An update on the controversy:<BR/><BR/>One of the original judges in this competition, who I ran into on a business trip to Kentucky this week, said there is anything but unanimity among the judges about the number of medals handed out. He confirms that event founder Anthony Dias Blue pushes them hard every year to hand out a large number of medals.<BR/><BR/>There are two schools of thought on that topic. One is that lots of medals guarantee lots of entries for the following year, and thus a better income stream for such events. The other is that too many medal awards ends up cheapening the value of the honors.William M. Dowdhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/00194419248332687100noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-17114857.post-36283063692042656782008-04-07T15:19:00.000-07:002008-04-07T15:19:00.000-07:00Steven:Yes, the number of medals is, in my view, o...Steven:<BR/><BR/>Yes, the number of medals is, in my view, overdone.<BR/><BR/>As to being able to judge such a large field, at first glance (or even second) it certainly might appear to be impossible. However, having been part of numerous spirits and wine competition judging panels over the years, I assure you it can be done.<BR/><BR/>Usually, the judges are divided into several panels. Not every panel judges every entry. They are broken into “flights” — i.e., ryes, Irish whiskies, gins, liqueurs, etc. The winners from each flight move on to the next round.<BR/><BR/>As the rounds go on, there are fewer and fewer entries still standing (since most judges swirl and spit rather than actually drink the stuff, one presumes they are still standing). By the time you get to the final round, the judges have plowed through a lot of entries in a relatively brief time because each panel has narrowed the field for the rest of their colleagues.William M. Dowdhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/00194419248332687100noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-17114857.post-5356175747461981472008-04-07T15:17:00.000-07:002008-04-07T15:17:00.000-07:00Don't you think it's odd that that 847 entries can...Don't you think it's odd that that 847 entries can be judged by 26 judges in 2 <BR/>days? <BR/> <BR/>Don't you also think that out of 847 entries 88.5% win an award?Anonymousnoreply@blogger.com