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How San Francisco Became The World’s Most Important Whisky Competition

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How San Francisco Became The World’s Most Important Whisky Competition


Over the last five years, the San Francisco World Spirits Competition (SFWSC) has become the world’s largest spirits competition. In 2024, more than 6,000 entries were submitted from beverage companies worldwide. In the process, the SFWSC has also become the world’s largest whiskey competition. Recently, I sat down with Amanda Blue, President of the Tasting Alliance, the company that organizes the SFWSC, and Stephen Beal, whiskey’s eminence grise and the founding and longest-serving judge of the SFWSC, to talk about the role of the competition in the global whiskey industry.

According to Blue, more than 1,800 entries were submitted in the whisky category in 2024, a record level of submissions. “It’s our single largest category,” added Blue, noting that “roughly 2/3rds of the submissions are from American distillers, but the rest come from thirty other countries worldwide.

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Per Steve Beal, the SFWSC has become critical to both the established mega-brands and up-and-coming craft distillers. “The big established brands,” he noted, look to the San Francisco competition to test new concepts and validate aroma and flavor profiles.” “It’s also an excellent way to showcase new ultra-premium expressions,” he added. “This year, we had a 45 YO Talisker entered in the competition”, he observed, “you just don’t see those kinds of submissions in international spirit competitions very often.” “By the way,” he added, it was a fantastic whisky.

Beal was Diageo’s first Senior Master of Whisky and played a pivotal role in the growth and development of Bulleit Frontier Whiskey and has been referred to as the “Godfather of Bulleit Rye”. His portrait is displayed in the entrance of Bulleit’s new distillery in Shelbyville, Kentucky. Widely recognized as one of the world’s leading whiskey experts, he was a founding member of the Council of Whisky Masters and served as chair of its Advisory Council. He was inducted as a Keeper of the Quaich in Scotland in 2010 and the Whisky Magazine Hall of Fame in 2015. He has also been a fixture in international spirit competitions for several decades, having judged virtually every major global competition.

“The SFWSC is equally important for up-and-coming craft distillers,” states Beal. The history of the San Francisco competition is full of iconic stories of little-known brands that broke onto the national stage and saw exponential increases in their sales volume due to winning top honors in the competition.

It’s not just the craft distillers who look to San Francisco for legitimacy,” notes Beal. The US whiskey market is the single largest in the world; “If you want to be a world-class player, you need to have a significant presence in the US market,” added Beal.

“That’s why we had 90 whiskey submissions from Australia’s burgeoning whisky industry and more than 110 submissions from Irish whisky producers”, noted Blue. “That’s more submissions than any other US competition; in fact, it’s more submissions than any other international competition.”

“It’s not just established whisky-producing countries like Ireland, Japan, Scotland, or Australia,” she added. “This year, we received entries from as far afield as China, Vietnam, Malaysia, Denmark, Peru, Iceland, and Nepal.”

Approximately 25% of the whiskey entries, 452, scored Double Golds, although only five entries in each category made it to the final or “sweeps” round, where the whiskeys are tasted and scored by all judges.

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I asked Beal whether he was concerned about the number of Double Gold medals awarded this year. “Not really”, he noted:

Remember, this is the world’s largest, most competitive whisky competition. If you are going to enter the SFWSC, you are going to do so with your best expressions. I’ve judged rounds where every single entry, ten different expressions, received a Double Gold. They were that good! The judges at the SFWSC are among the most knowledgeable, most competent whisky judges you will find anywhere. Many are considered world-class experts. If three of those judges consider an entry a Double Gold medalist, you better believe that is one outstanding whiskey!

With over 6,000 entries, I asked Blue if the competition was at risk of getting too large.

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It’s a possibility”, she observed. “Even with the world’s best judges, 1,800 whiskeys are a lot of whiskeys to evaluate, not to mention the other 4,000+ spirits being judged. She added, “It’s entirely conceivable that at some point in the future, we will have to cap the total number of entries in the competition.”

Blue also noted that the Tasting Alliance, the SFWSC’s parent, is developing additional programs, scheduled to roll out in 2025, to help craft distillers by providing them with evaluations from its expert judges and marketing and distribution advice.

The results of the whisky judging, including the finalists, will be announced by category in July. The final winners from the San Francisco and other competitions organized by the Tasting Alliance will be revealed at the Tasting Alliance annual Gala on October 5 in San Francisco. The Gala is open to both consumers and the beverage trade and will afford an opportunity to taste spirits from 70 Double Gold winning medalists.

Founded in 2000 by the late Anthony Dias Blue, the SFWSC is the oldest spirits competition in North America and among the oldest in the world. A total of 70 judges from around the world evaluated approximately 6,000 spirits from April 4-6, 2024.

The competition is organized by the Tasting Alliance, which also hosts spirit competitions in New York and Singapore, wine competitions in San Francisco and New York, and Beer and RTD competitions.

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San Francisco could vote again on whether to allow cars on the Great Highway

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San Francisco could vote again on whether to allow cars on the Great Highway


In San Francisco’s Sunset District, controversy continues over what to do with the Great Highway.

Friday, the newly-appointed supervisor for that district, Alan Wong, confirmed he is running to keep his job. He also shared that he would support a ballot measure that would bring cars back to the now-closed stretch of road. Some residents in the district already said they would be prepared to fight back against that ballot measure if it came to fruition.

This has been a politically tumultuous year for the Sunset District. In November of 2024, San Francisco voters narrowly approved Proposition K, which moved to close the highway along Ocean Beach to cars and to transform it into a park. In March of 2025, the stretch of road was permanently closed to cars, and in April, the area was officially reopened as Sunset Dunes Park. In September, voters recalled then-Supervisor Joel Engardio, with many in the campaign against Engardio expressing frustration with his support for turning the Great Highway into a park. In November, Mayor Daniel Lurie appointed Isabella “Beya” Alcaraz as the new supervisor for District 4, only to have her resign a week later amid growing questions about her actions as a small business owner.

At the start of December, Mayor Lurie swore in Alan Wong as his new appointee to serve as supervisor in District 4. Wong grew up in the Sunset, attended Lincoln High School, and has served as both an elected member of the San Francisco City College Board of Trustees and as a legislative aid to former supervisor Gordon Mar.

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In an interview with NBC Bay Area on Friday, Wong shared that he has not hidden the fact that he voted no on Prop. K in the 2024 election. However, in his first three weeks in office, Wong said he set out to “have conversations with different constituent groups and listen to them” about the issues.

“After three weeks of listening and having these conversations, I believe that my values and how I voted before align with the majority of the district,” Wong said.

San Francisco Supervisor Alan Wong supports a ballot measure that calls for cars to return to the Great Highway.

“And as the district supervisor, I need to take a leadership role in representing the district that I am here to serve,” he continued.

Wong said he is now prepared to be one of the four supervisors supporting a ballot initiative to reopen the Great Highway to cars on weekdays.

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Molly Rose, with Sunset Parent Advocates, worries that when Wong was listening to community voices over the past three weeks, some voices may have been left out.

“If he talked to the Sunset residents, he didn’t talk to me, and he didn’t talk to us– the family groups I am a part of,” Rose said.

“We are all very pro-park, we use it very heavily as a park,” she continued.

Rose said there are several hundred parents involved with her group. As a parent, Rose said her children love going to the park there.

“Sunset Dunes is the place where I take my kids to have a safe place to play,” she said.

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Rose said that she has been asking for Wong to meet with her group, but has been waiting to hear back from his scheduling team.

Wong’s office confirmed that Rose is in touch with their office and that Wong’s scheduler is “actively coordinating a time” for them to meet.

“While I do think there is a very loud, anti-park contingent of people in the Sunset, I don’t think they’re the majority,” Rose emphasized.



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New SF supervisor supports reopening Great Highway on weekdays

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New SF supervisor supports reopening Great Highway on weekdays


SAN FRANCISCO (KRON) — Alan Wong, the new supervisor for District four in San Francisco, has publicly expressed his support for reopening the Great Highway to vehicles on weekdays. This statement comes amid ongoing debates surrounding the highway’s conversion into a park last spring, which was met with mixed reactions from the community.

The Great Highway was transformed into a public park earlier this year, a change that many residents have embraced, while some local neighbors have pushed back. Joel Engardio, the former supervisor who supported this conversion through Measure K, was recalled this year, highlighting the division among constituents in District four.

Wong, who was appointed as supervisor following Engardio’s recall, filed paperwork to run for the elected position on the board. His term is set to last until January 2027, during which he aims to solidify his platform around reopening the Great Highway.

In his statement, Wong emphasized, “I believe my values align with a majority of Sunset residents who support reopening the Great Highway to cars on weekdays. As a result, I am prepared to be one of four supervisors needed to sponsor a ballot initiative to restore that compromise.” This suggests Wong’s intent to address community concerns head-on while building a wider consensus.

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Prior to its conversion, the Great Highway allowed vehicles during the week and served as a park on weekends, a compromise Wong supports restoring. He aims to return to this model in response to feedback from local constituents.

All facts in this report were gathered by journalists employed by KRON4. Artificial intelligence tools were used to reformat information into a news article for our website. This report was edited and fact-checked by KRON4 staff before being published.



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Women’s volleyball professional team headed to San Francisco

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Women’s volleyball professional team headed to San Francisco


Pro volleyball will soon be coming to San Francisco and this latest team is part of a surge of women’s sports.

League One Volleyball officially launched this year with six teams. Now the league has announced it’s expanding to nine teams, and that one of those expansion teams will be based in the city by the bay.

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Three-time Olympic volleyball medalist Kelsy Robinson Cook is on the ownership team for LOVB San Francisco, bringing professional volleyball to the city. “Can tell you it’s going to be amazing,” said Robinson Cook. “Then, when you bring in the fandom of the Bay Area and SF I think personally it’s going to make for an incredible atmosphere.”

Team ownership said starting a team in the Bay Area is a natural with colleges and universities in the region turning out top talent. “It’s the number one sport for women and girls and I think that just speaks volumes as to where we’re headed, not only in club and college, but professionally,” said Robinson Cook.

Pro women’s volleyball is part of a growing list of professional women’s sports teams calling San Francisco and the Bay Area home.

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The women’s professional baseball league announced plans for a team in San Francisco. Bay FC and the Golden State Valkyries are already proving there is a market for professional women’s sports.

When pro-volleyball was looking to expand, San Francisco was a natural choice. “You’re seeing Bay FC, the Valkyries, the success that they have, and this market loves sports, and they’ve also proven they love women’s sports,” said Robinson Cook.

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San Francisco leaders said the city has already proven that it supports pro-women’s teams, and will welcome professional volleyball. Mayor Daniel Lurie pointed to the city’s rich sports history and enthusiasm to support the home teams. “Now, as we saw with the Valkyries selling out every single home game last year, there is an appetite, there is a fan base, and this new league understands that,” said Mayor Lurie.

At this time, there are still a lot of questions up in the air, including exactly where LOVB San Francisco will play. Organizers say they have a lot of plans in the works to get the team ready to bump, set and spike starting in January 2027.

 

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