WELCOME TO THE SCOTTISH FIELD WHISKY CHALLENGE

When the whisky team at Scottish Field magazine launched the SFWC in 2001, we believed there was a gaping hole in the honest assessment of Scotch whisky. Now, there are several other movements on the go along with the SFWC, where whisky lovers outwith the distilling industry assess Scotch whisky purely by merit as all sampling is done so ‘blindfolded’. Check out Malt Maniacs to see how their assessments compare to those of our judging panel. Power to the people!

The SFWC was founded with the help and support of our three inaugural judges: Richard Joynson (Loch Fyne Whiskies), Keir Sword (Royal Mile Whiskies) and Ronnie Routledge (Gordon & MacPhail retail) -internationally renowned whisky merchants who share an unconditional love of fine Scotch whisky and mandate to protect whisky consumers.

The SFWC swiftly won many friends, encouraging us to expand the panel - initially by inviting Darren Leitch (The Whisky Shop) on board in 2002 and then ‘on-trade’ judges in 2003 - Regis Lemaitre (Gleneagles), Duncan Elphick (Craigellachie Hotel) and John Clotworthy (Drumchork Lodge). In 2005 we welcomed the expertise and counsel of Charlie MacLean - whisky’s foremost writer and personality. Our final intake brought a much needed feminine perspective to our panel, in the shape of the hugely talented Annabel Meikle (Scotch Malt Whisky Society). Regis has since set up his own whisky consultancy. Duncan has acquired Speyside's 'Highlander Inn' and passed over his SFWC duties to business partner and 'nose', Tatsuya Minagawa.

1) Scottish Field invites whisky producers to send entries for a specific category, ‘Islay whisky, 10 years old - 15 year old’ for example

2) Entries are mailed to Julie Hunter at The Scotch Whisky Experience. Julie and her team decant the entries into identical sample bottles. All samples are mailed to our judges identified only by number to ensure the results are pure and unbiased.

3) Comments and scores are returned to Scottish Field. The highest and lowest scores for each entry are discounted to give a team average.

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