A Record 84 Agave Spirits Entered in Yearly Competition
For Immediate release!
Tequila Aficionado Media unveiled its highly anticipated Ninth Annual Brands of Promise Awards, celebrating the breakthrough brands in Tequila, Mezcal and other diverse agave distillates from Mexico and around the world.
Highlights:
— A Record 84 different Agave Spirits were entered in Tequila Aficionado’s yearly Brands of Promise Awards competition.
—32 distinct blanco tequilas were submitted by as many brands for tastings on the wildly popular Sipping Off the Cuff video and audio reviews. It was the tightest field of blanco tequilas in the history of the Brands of Promise Awards.
–Agave Spirits from New Zealand (TeKiwi) and Australia (Black Snake) were introduced for the first time and bestowed medals.
–Also for the first time, a Mexican agave spirit (Dos Volcanes) made with blue Weber agave farmed only three miles outside of the Tequila Denomination of Origin was awarded gold medals.
–Not to be outdone, Western Reserve Distillers, a certified organic micro-distiller in Ohio, submitted a fully organic blue agave spirit produced in the USA.
–Opening entirely new categories, Tequila Aficionado Media acknowledged other spirits historically distilled in Mexico. Special Brands of Promise accolades went to Ron Libertad (rum) and Siglo Cero Pox Spirit (distilled from corn, wheat, and sugarcane). Both are produced in the Chiapas region of Mexico.
–By far, the greatest innovation was witnessed in the Reposado field. Pushing the limits, tequilas aged in various types of wine barrels (Juan de Leon; CaliRosa); multiple oak barrels (Mijenta, Corrido), single barrel (Cayeya) and Legacy Brand El Tequileno’s Reposado Rare were appraised.
–Due to shortages caused by the ongoing pandemic, only one extra anejo aged in bourbon or whisky barrels was enrolled by Tequila Pacheco 1988.
–While 2020 saw the explosion of Ready-to-Drink cocktails in the Brands of Promise Awards, in 2021 only three RTDs were submitted (Cutwater Mango Margarita; Ranch2o Spirits; Hecho). 2022, however, is projected to supersede all previous canned and bottled cocktails evaluated in the yearly tournament.
–In addition, a slew of other agave spirits at different proofs and growing and distilling regions garnered Brands of Promise medals. Among them were Balam Raicilla, Bruxo Mezcal, Vinateros Bacanora, and SotoMayor joven sotol.
For a full list of nominees and winners, see the official 2021 Brands of Promise Awards ballot here.
About Tequila Aficionado Media’s Brands of Promise Awards:
When we review your brand and feature it on Tequila Aficionado’s Sipping Off the Cuff program, it is automatically entered into our ground breaking end-of-year awards program, the Brands of Promise.
Unlike other awards programs that have become a “pay-to-play” world where high entry fees and additional sums for the licensing rights to use the award logos has become the norm, the Tequila Aficionado Brands of Promise Awards is our response to this secondary industry.
Tequila Aficionado’s Brands of Promise Awards are different in two very important ways:
- Brands are judged on their merits by experienced agave spirits tasters.
- There is NO CHARGE for being featured on Sipping Off the Cuff or being entered in the Brands of Promise competition.
Elimination of entry and licensing fees removes the budget barrier that most start-ups face, and places all brands on an even playing field.
About Tequila Aficionado Media:
TequilaAficionado.com (Tequila Aficionado Media) has been the only online tequila magazine for the past 22 years and is visited by tequila aficionados in over 189 countries around the world. To subscribe to Tequila Aficionado Magazine, click here.
To enter your agave spirits for the milestone 10th Annual Tequila Aficionado 2022 Brands of Promise Awards, email Lisa@TequilaAficionado.com now!
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