What Are the Best Cognac Ratings or Competitions? The Los Angeles International Wine and Spirits Competition and the Beverage Tasting Institute.

The Los Angeles International Wine and Spirits Competition www.lawinecomp.com

This competition was initially for wine only and founded in 1939. In 2007, it began receiving entries for spirits. Awards are provided for gold, silver, and bronze medals. In 2009, there were 199 entries with 179 awarded medals.

Los Angeles International Wine & Spirits Competition Logo

The +: situated in the middle of the capital of world entertainment. Well organized event, business friendly, ... increasingly referenced. Great longevity since 1939.

The -: the spirit rating is clearly an off-spring of the wine event, and one could say the spirit part of the event is in its introduction stage. In fact, the prices and logos state “Wine & Spirits” but website and other media references do not include the word ‘spirit’ or ‘spirits’, neither in presentations (photos ...) which proves it is starting and not their focus. As a side note they have an olive oil competition integrated in the event so it should be called: ‘Las Angeles International Wine, Spirits and Olive Oil Competition’. I think they should also do coffee, tea and why not beer!

The Beverage Tasting Institute www.tastings.com

The Beverage Testing Institute is based in Chicago, Illinois and was founded in 1981 with its initial focus on wine but later branching into the world of spirits and beer. They use a dedicated tasting laboratory in order to create consistent results and minimize external distractions. Each periodic tasting is conducted at the same time of day under identical conditions. The panelists are selected from the professional world of restaurants and publications under the leadership of director Jerald O'Kennard. Not all spirits are given a rating. Those of sufficient merit are awarded a point score between 80 and 100.

Beverage Tasting Institute

The institute seeks to produce "fair and impartial wine reviews for consumers." Buying guides have appeared in All About Beer, Epicurious.com, International Wine Review, Wine Enthusiast, Restaurant Hospitality, The New Yorker Magazine, and Wine & Spirits.

The +: highly recognized in the trade and used to promote to consumers. So it is working and it is clearly an official source. The spirit division is very seriously carried out and broken into departments: the whiskies, the bandies, the eaux-de-vie, ... Just from the fact that they divide and organize ratings of spirits by family and rate them at different times and per family says a lot. I like the scientific ‘kind of’ style this organization has. I like the fact that they clearly mentioned that not everyone gets to win something. No idea if it is true but it sounds good.

What Are the Best Cognac Ratings or Competitions? The Internationaler Spirituosen-Wettbewerb ISW (www.mundusvini.de)

The case of the Internationaler Spirituosen-Wettbewerb ISW (www.mundusvini.de)

This competition was started in 2004 in Germany, and it is a subsidiary of Meininger Verlag in Neustadt, one of Germany's oldest specialist publishing houses and run by the 4th generation family. It specialises in wine and beverage publications for different target groups.

Internationaler Spirituosen-Wettbewerb Spirits Competition Germany

A special ISW supplement with a print run of more than 100,000 copies reports in detail on prize-winning spirits and their producers and is included with all the wine, beverage and hospitality trade magazines published by Meininger Verlag.

The ISW judges are renowned experts from wine & spirits institutes, producers, retailers and restaurateurs who have daily experience with spirits.

---> The +: this is a well organized competition that seems very professional.

---> The -: mostly from Europeans for Europeans, and in particular Germans.

What Are the Best Cognac Ratings or Competitions? The International Wine and Spirit Competition (IWSC) www.iwsc.net

The International Wine and Spirit Competition (IWSC) www.iwsc.net  is the most famous competitions has it has been seriously organized and supported by the majors of the industry for the longest. I think also it benefits from having been established in London by a British and a German person in 1969 so it has benefited from a solid organization and structure from the foundation. Europeans have taken a serious lead on this judging/rating a long time ago. The statistics and numbers are huge 30,000 submissions, 80 countries, 250 judges coming from all over the world, chemical analysis, and etc... But it is hard to decipher how much of this is dedicated to spirits. I guess about 1000 submissions for spirits.

International Wine and Spirit Competition, IWSC

This competition is also greatly enhanced by its world partner and media support mostly from the Drinks Business magazine, but also by its pertinent participation in the world’s leading trade exhibitions, such as Vinexpo, ProWein and Vinitaly.

Plus the IWSC has a huge experience in getting media coverage and offers promotional supports trough their networks of retail/industry connections. It is a powerful organization - no doubt. Far more powerful than the 

World Spirits Comp. in San Francisco presented above, and far older too.

---> The +: they are powerful and their name means business in the alcoholic beverage industry.

---> The -: lack of legitimacy for the spirits ratings in particular as this is fundamentally a wine competition. I think it is and it will always be a wine event in priority!

Breaking News: IWSC and The Tasting Panel Magazine have just announced they would cooperate in 2013 for the organization, ratings, submissions, media and etc. from and for the USA. This news is quite significant has it shows that the 2 leading international competitions will be cooperating to improve the outcomes. Better to share something big than keep it all small.

What are the Best Cognac Ratings or Competitions out there? Starting with the San Francisco World Spirits Competition

There is no real official and compelling cognac ratings or competitions out there. However, the World Spirits Competition in San Francisco attracts the largest number of cognac submissions.

This World Spirit Competition www.sfspiritscomp.com is carried out in San Francisco, it is not that old in comparison to many wine events. It was started in 2000 by Anthony Dias-Blue. Mr Blue is a highly recognized wine & spirits journalist who originally made his name as the wine and spirits editor of Bon Appétit, one of the largest food publication in the United States.

San Francisco World Spirits Competition Logo

He also broadcasts on radios, KFWB and KLSX FM in Los Angeles and on WCBS radio in New York.  He is co-owner and Editor-in-Chief of Tasting Panel Magazine and is a frequent contributor to Decanter, Robb Report, Celebrated Living, Virtuoso Life, and C Magazine. Mr. Blue is the author of The Complete Book of Mixed Drinks and its companion, The Complete Book of Spirits. Interestingly, Mr Blue is the executive director of the New York World Wine and Spirits Competition, which is another representative competition that I am presenting below, but also the San Francisco World Wine Competition.

The World Spirits Competition in San Francisco rates about 1200 entrants annually from 60 countries on average (exactly 1215 in 2012 from 60 countries) with "blind" tastings involving panels of expert judges selected each year from the spirits industry including world-renowned mixologists, spirits buyers, and media from across the United States.

The +: the earlier in the year the better. Consumers prefer recent/this year winners than last year winners. WSC is in March and results are in April. this competition is seriously done, executed and rather representative. All spirits competitions are subjective. This is the best competition in my opinion.

The -: judges are not international judges for the most part and rather represent the experts in the USA. From my experience I can say that not all world experts are the same. It would be nice to see international experts in the panel to offer a more worldly view, mostly when the competition is called World Spirits etc ... Little appearance/representation in international trade events, for instance, Vinexpo, etc... They do appear in the Wine & Spirits Wholesaler of America trade show which is the equivalent of VINEXPO but for the USA only.

REVIEW OF SPIRITS COMPETITIONS AND RATINGS

There are many spirits competitions and ratings in the world. From the local wine & spirits fairs to the international event organized with selected judges highly regarded for their experience and know-how in the industry, and also independent raters who are ratings spirits in their own media such as Dias-Blue or Pacult.

I will only reference the spirit events which are internationally representative and commonly used as reference by the industry trades and and also by consumers. The concept of rating spirits is often an offspring of ‘Wine ratings’ which they are 100 times many more ratings for. Most of these events/competitions were originally wine competitions which opened up to spirits or encouraged spirit submissions for ratings.

Ratings are not as influent for spirits as they are for wines. High ratings may help but how much they help is insignificant in the scheme of things. On the other hand ratings can be explain more than 50% of the reasons for why a wine is successful.

Wine Consumers and distributors are hand-in-hand rewarding high ratings.

The spirit trade is more influenced by the advertising budget or celebrity endorsement for instance.

Reality Rule 101:

. Take the most influent raters, have them rate a wine 100/100 points and this wine sales will skyrocket running out of stock regularly. If the wine is decent it will sustain high sales. If the wine is bad it will not sustain growth. But the head start from the rating will be noticeable.

. Take an outstanding wine and rate it low or without rating at all, it will have to sell cheap and it will not get any consumer followings and no trade support.

. Take the most influent raters, have them rate a spirit 100/100points and little may happen.

. Take an outstanding spirit and rate it low or without any ratings, this spirit will not rise and disappear from the market.

They are exceptions to these rules but these are the rules!

In my next posts, I will review the most prominent competitions in the world.

Global Cognac Market Review and Forecasts: Negociants are Suffering with Cash-Flow and Stock Investments

Traditionally, cognac forecasts and market results are published in August in anticipation of the coming holiday seasons and winter months which regulate the sales of brown spirits. Brown spirits including cognacs are usually consumed during Fall/Winter seasons, but lately this pattern has changed.

---> Cognac is more mixed now, more of a standard/preferred drink rather than an after-thought spirit, and also more of a lifestyle beverage than a season drink.

So in recent years even in July the sales of cognac have been high. 'Companies and Markets' (companiesandmarket.com) provided a report in 2009 looking at three things (1) the growth until 2007, then (2) the sudden decline of cognac sales in 2008, and (3) forecasts till 2014. Now, in 2012 we can tell they made a good prediction anticipating that the decline would not last very long.

Further, Companies and Markets 2009 Reports stated:

- In 2008, global Cognac sales fell for the first time in over 10 years, declining by 2.76% to 11.57m nine-litre cases. This follows a record year in 2007 when sales hit 11.9m cases.

- Today the Cognac industry derives roughly one-third each of its sales from Western Europe, the US and Asia. Bureau National Interprofessionnel du Cognac (BNIC) CEO Jerome Durand says: "This leaves the Cognac industry very well-balanced to manage the risk, even though it is a global crisis."

- Camus la Grande Marque CEO Cyril Camus says: "Cognac is one of the few truly global products. It has a very high image and appeals to consumers everywhere... there is a very strong stable international base to Cognac consumption. That is a very reassuring factor in times like this."

- The Cognac industry has counter-attacked Scotch's rise in many markets with a number of initiatives aimed at providing a point of differentiation and product story, and is ultimately taking the initiative back from the single malt producers.

- Asia-Pacific was the best-performing market overall in 2008, up 3.9%. Six of the top growth markets are located there, and it is an important region for travel retail, the third fastest-growing market.

- Cognac was the only relevant imported spirits category to show sales growth (as opposed to shipments) in China in 2008, driven mainly by the Martell brand. Cognac sales rose by 6.6% to 1.56m cases, according to The IWSR.

- Cognac in China continues to perform strongly in its traditional Chinese entertainment channel, which Scotch finds hard to penetrate. The Cognac category is also more profitable than Scotch, with VSOP retailing at a 50% premium to 12-year-old Scotch brands. Moreover, the ultra-premium segment in Cognac (XO and over) is much larger than its Scotch equivalents, such as Royal Salute or Johnnie Walker Blue. All this makes the category more attractive than Scotch at importer, wholesaler and retailer levels.

- Pernod Ricard CEO Pierre Pringuet confirms: "Martell in China is booming. Consumption for Cognac is very well-established in China, so it means that when people are less keen to buy foreign products, they will probably re-focus on their traditions and Cognac is much more in a position [to serve that] than Scotch whisky."

- Cyril Camus: "From a depletion (shipments from wholesalers to retailers) point of view, I believe we have touched the bottom now, and in some markets actually, we are starting to see a pick-up again in sales from what were very low volumes in the first quarter. The worst is past us."

Image to Illustrate Cognac Sales in 500 years

The above figure only illustrates the argument about the strength of the cognac industry when looking at long-term growth. It is not meant to be accurate but just descriptive.

This months figures from the BNIC show:

. From August 2011 to July 2012, the global sales of cognac totaled 2,2 billions euros or a volume of 168,5 millions of bottles. This 12 months period showed an increase of +4,3% sales compared to the previous year. Now, Asia accounts for over 1 billion euros with a sales volume of 61,8 millions of bottles.

. North America increased by 1,9% with 51,8 millions bottles. The sales of cognac in Europe declined by -1,5% with 47,1 millions bottles sold, with particular decreases in both Germany and the UK.

The increasing prices of cognac will continue because:

> June to July 2012 = mildew crisis over the vineyards of cognac: I predict 10% less production than potential production = + prices of cognac.
> Raising cognac vineyards prices = + prices of cognac.

> Premiumisation of cognac: cognac is more presitigious than Scotch and the current antagonism with Scotch fuels cognac to become more and more premium = + prices of cognac

> Raising costs of producing cognac [multiply by] negative business/political environment in France = + prices of cognac.

> XO cognac being regulated at 10 years rather than 6,5 years in 2014 = + prices of cognac.

> Fewer producers owning more and more production resources = + prices of cognac.

> Annual worldwide increase consumption of cognac = + prices of cognac.

> Asian calling cognac 'an XO' and general growth of consumption of cognac in China: it is said than they are over 2 million new consumers of Cognac XO in China every year = + prices of cognac

> Some say a decreasing euro will increase cognac base prices - I hope not! = + prices of cognac.

Hence, the difficulty is to buy bulk cognac in the cognac stock market, then sell it as a branded product, and at the same time be able to purchase bulk cognac at a higher price than the previous time and to keep doing this continuously. There is a huge cash flow problem where margins are eaten away and do not allow for much money to be re-invested but used to purchase up in the next price increase. In addition, one negociant needs to be patient as a huge amount of stock is required to (1) blend effectively and (2) improve younger qualities with older qualities.

Sources:
Companies and Market China Cognac Report 2009 Forecasts 2014 (UK)
www.BNIC.fr

Bartender We Need a VS or VSOP ... New Music Video Starring M.I. & Naeto C.

New video from Hennessy Artistry programme. Bartender - The Official Hennessy Artistry 2012 Music Video Starring M.I & Naeto C directed by Clarence Peters. 1) Not sure if it is a video or a commercial. 2) What I found new in this video is that they are a many empty bottles. Could be a subliminal message!