San Francisco, CA
How San Francisco Became The World’s Most Important Whisky Competition
Some of the Double Gold whiskey medalists from the 2024 San Francisco World Spirits 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.
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.
The final “Sweeps” judging around at the 2023 SFWSC
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.
The SFWSC Medals
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.
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.
The 4,140-sq-km bay is the largest estuary on the west coast of the US. Before 2018, this species of whales wasn’t known to stop seasonally or consistently in the bay, bypassing it on their migration route down to Baja California and back up the Arctic, said Josephine Slaathaug, who led a recent study on gray whale mortality in the bay.
One of San Francisco’s busiest freeways remained shut down Saturday, creating major traffic delays and dampening business for some local restaurants and shops.
All eastbound lanes of Interstate 80 just before the Bay Bridge are closed as crews work around the clock to rehabilitate the roadway. The 55-hour shutdown, which began on Friday night, is scheduled to last until Monday morning in time for the commute.
The closure has forced drivers onto detour routes, leading to heavy congestion for those trying to reach the East Bay, including Oakland and Berkeley.
The impact is being felt beyond the roadways.
At MoMo’s, a restaurant across from Oracle Park, staff found business noticeably slower.
“A little bit more mellow than usual. We usually see a little bit more foot traffic, a little bit more people on Saturdays,” said Daniel Bermudez, executive chef at MoMo’s.
Bermudez believes the freeway closure may be discouraging visitors from coming into the city this weekend, despite favorable weather.
“The weather is beautiful today. It’s nice and sunny. So we have plenty of tables outside,” he said.
With the San Francisco Giants playing an away game, the restaurant had hoped fans would still gather to watch, but turnout during game time remained light.
“This is kind of like our off-season Saturday. A lot slower than our baseball weekend,” said Casandra Alarcon, general manager at MoMo’s.
Other small businesses in the Mission Bay and South of Market neighborhoods reported similar trends, saying most of their customers are regulars who live nearby rather than visitors.
“A little bit slower for sure. Before, we had tourists come and walk to the baseball park,” said Ajaree Safron, manager at Brickhouse Cafe & Bar.
Caltrans has shut down eastbound lanes between 17th and 4th streets to repave the 71-year-old roadway. The goal is to extend the life of the Bayshore Freeway by another decade.
City and transportation officials said the timing of the closure was intentional, noting fewer major events scheduled in San Francisco this weekend, aside from the Cherry Blossom Festival.
Westbound lanes remain open, and officials said traffic heading into San Francisco from the East Bay has not been significantly affected.
“Getting into the city, it wasn’t too bad. Regular [traffic], what we expect on a Saturday morning,” said visitor Andrea Inouye.
While the closure has posed challenges for businesses, some workers said they are taking it in stride.
“Hopefully, it’s not for too long and we get past it, and get back to our normal routine,” Bermudez said.
Despite early concerns about widespread gridlock, transportation officials said the region has avoided the worst-case scenario. Traffic remains heavy in areas near detours, but the anticipated “carmageddon” has not materialized, in part because many drivers chose to avoid the area or take public transit.
Bay Area High School baseball fans are treated to a rare opportunity Saturday (April 18) with three games at Oracle Park, home of the San Francisco Giants, including the famed Bruce-Mahoney clash between West Catholic Athletic League rivals St. Ignatius and Sacred Heart Cathedral.
The first pitch of the 20th annual Dante Benedetti Baseball Classic starts at 11 a.m. and pits two more San Francisco private schools as University (9-7), winners of four straight, taking on Riordan (5-11).
That will be followed by the Bruce-Mahoney game at 2:30 between St. Ignatius (12-5, 4-2 WCAL) and the Irish (7-10, 1-5) and finished off with a North Coast Section clash between North Bay’s Marin Catholic (9-7) against Acalanes (7-6-1).
The Benedetti Classic, founded by Dante’s Boys Foundation board member Tom Lounibos and Giants president Larry Baer, benefits the DBF which honors the spirit of Benedetti who for nearly 40 years owned San Francisco’s Mr. Baseball nickname for his kindness and generosity to baseball-playing youth in the area.
Among their philanthropic efforts are glove and baseball equipment drives, field renovations and contributions to scholarships and sponsorships.
After starting the season 0-4 — three of those losses were by one run — University, under head coach Andrew Suvunnachuen, has found its way, winning the last four, all in Bay Counties League play, by a combined 51-6 count over Lick-Wilmerding (16-1 and 11-3) and San Domenico (13-2 and 11-0).
Senior catcher and pitcher Jett Messenger leads the way with a .447 average, while getting on base at a .638 rate. He also leads the team with 20 stolen bases. Junior third baseman Tate Gebhart is hitting .419, while Leo Felder and Behbart share the RBI lead with 15 each.
Junior Matthew Foley is 3-2 on the mound with a 2.38 ERA and 25 strikeouts in 17.2 innings.
Riordan, under second-year head coach Craig Sargent, was 5-5 in nonleague games but lost six straight in the rugged WCAL, losing two tough games this week to Mitty (3-2 and 7-4). Junior third baseman and pitcher Santiono Williams leads the team in batting average (.371), on-base percentage (.488) and stolen bases (nine). He’s also been the team’s top pitcher at 4-2 with a 2.84 ERA.
The teams have split two previous games in their history, with Riordan winning 2-0 in 2023 and University prevailing 5-0 in 2021.
St. Ignatius, led by ninth-year head coach Brian Pollzzie, has already secured the Bruce-Mahoney trophy with four straight wins — one each in football, girls volleyball, boys basketball and girls basketball — but this rivalry is always spirited.
The Wildcats, who are ranked fourth in the Bay Area by the San Francisco Chronicle, are coming off a tough 3-0 home loss to No. 2 St. Francis on Friday after beating the host Lancers 10-6 on Tuesday.
The team is led by Stanford-bound Archer Horn, who is hitting .486 with four home runs and a .604 on-base percentage. The shortstop and pitcher also has not allowed an earned run in three pitching appearances while registering one save.
Pitching is a team’s strength with a 2.59 ERA, led by a brigade of strong arms including Leo Rhein (2-0, 2.38), Tycco Giometti (2-1, 2.62), Charlie Stecher 1-1, 0.72) and Chase Gordon (1-0, 2.80). The team is missing standout Finn Demuth, out of the season after undergoing Tommy John surgery.
Sacred Heart Cathedral, led by fourth-year head coach Gregg Franceschi, has scored 60 runs on the season and given up 61. The Irish are coming off two losses to eighth-ranked Valley Christian (5-2 and 10-1).
They are led offensively by junior outfielder Brody O’Sullivan (.381) and senior infielder Jacob Vines (.378). Johnny Nepomuceno and Max Nylander are other run-producers. Zach Stallworth (37 strikeouts, 29.2 innings) and Cooper Rogers Lewis (0.25 ERA) have been the team’s top pitchers.
The series has been remarkably close since 2005 with Sacred Heart Cathedral holding a 27-20 edge, though St. Ignatius won both games last season (5-0 and 6-3) after the Irish won 9-7 and 1-0 in 2024.
Marin Catholic hopes to get back to winning after starting the season 9-1, but have since lost six straight, four in Marin County Athletic League play, including 4-2 to Novato on Thursday. Senior outfield Luke Martin is the team’s leading hitter at .478 while senior infielder and pitcher Cooper Mitchell is at .455. Senior infielder Walker Untermann leads the team with 15 RBIs.
Acalanes is at the other end of the spectrum, winners of five of six after a 2-5-1 start. Junior infielder Tyler Winkles, also a highly recruited quarterback in football, leads the team with a .383 average and nine stolen bases. Riley Gates (2-3, 2.49 ERA, 30 strikeouts) is the team’s top pitcher.
The teams have played three times, all since 2022, with Marin Catholic owning a 2-1 lead. Acalanes won last year’s game 8-7.
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