How This Challenge Can Benefit You

Why should spirits and wine producers and importers enter their products into Ultimate Beverage Challenge’s competitions and evaluations?

PEER COMPARISON. With all Ultimate Beverage Challenges, individual spirits and wines are evaluated to ascertain how they compare to their peers in their specific category and class.
MULTILEVEL EVALUATION. UBC uses an innovative, multilevel and progressive system of evaluation by recognized spirits, cocktail and wine authorities that gives each entry the ideal environment and opportunity to showcase its best qualities.
SCORING. All Ultimate Beverage Challenge evaluations are scored on the 100-point scale. This user-friendly and widely-adopted system best communicates a product’s quality. The awarding of medals from other competitions is antiquated, often overdone, imprecise, and confusing. UBC’s scoring is highly valued because it communicates precise evaluations to the marketplace.
ENTRY CLASSIFICATIONS. For Ultimate Spirits Challenge, Ultimate Cocktail Challenge and Ultimate Wine Challenge, spirits and wine producers, importers and marketing companies will benefit from UBC’s groundbreaking multilevel system of entry classifications and judging by the exacting acumen and expertise of the judging panels.

MARKETING SUPPORT. UBC results are the ultimate standard for beverage competitions and are a highly-effective and globally recognizable marketing tool for producers, importers and alcoholic beverage marketing companies.
UNBIASED. Ultimate Beverage Challenges are completely unbiased and fair. We have the finest judging panels, headed by internationally renowned beverage alcohol expert, F. Paul Pacult. Paul is respected for his uncompromising and unbiased approach to beverage evaluation.
EXPERT JUDGES. Each Challenge is judged by the most experienced and authoritative judges in their field. For example, at Ultimate Cocktail Challenge spirit entries are judged by panels of international cocktail experts in categories of selected classic or proprietary cocktail recipes to ascertain which product shines brightest in each cocktail.
EARNED AWARDS. Winners of UBC awards have earned their way to the top through rigorous and completely unbiased evaluation and will therefore be recognized as leading brands in their category.
UNIQUE COMPETITION. With Ultimate Cocktail Challenge, UBC’s methodology is a complete departure from how all other cocktail competitions are conducted throughout the world and, as such, properly focuses on how well spirits perform in mixed drinks. Ultimate Cocktail Challenge consists of two components: Classic Cocktail Challenge and Signature Cocktail Challenge.
BRAND MARKETABILITY. To earn Classic Cocktail Challenge’s “Best Gin in a Dry Martini” award or “Best Straight Rye Whiskey in a Manhattan” award or “Best Rum in a Mojito” award as deemed by the foremost cocktail experts is a tremendous boost to any product’s marketability.
SIGNATURE COCKTAILS. At UBC’s new Signature Cocktail Challenge our internationally renowned judges evaluate and bestow awards for proprietary cocktail recipes. This provides superb marketing opportunities for high scoring brands.
APPROPRIATE GLASSWARE. Beverage entries are served in the most appropriate style of glasses and at their ideal serving temperatures in order to showcase each product’s best attributes for the judging panels.
TASTING FACILITY. All the UBC Challenges are held at the state-of-the-art facility at Astor Center in New York City. This is crucial because conducting days of formal examinations of beverage alcohol products requires a spotlessly clean and clinical facility that affords judges the appropriate environment in which to focus. Proper judging is all about concentration and method.
INTERNATIONAL RECOGNITION. Entry into the Challenges is a way to gain international recognition in order to possibly gain an importer’s or the media’s notice.
CERTIFICATES. Entries that score 80 and above receive UBC Certificates of Commendation that cite the product score and the relevant accolade. Products whose cumulative scores are from:

95-100 are cited with “EXTRAORDINARY, Ultimate Recommendation”
90-94 “EXCELLENT, Highly Recommended”
85-89 “VERY GOOD, Strong Recommendation”
80-84 “GOOD, Recommended”

CHAIRMAN’S TROPHY. The highest scoring wine, cocktail and spirits products are awarded the coveted “Chairman’s Trophy” for each appropriate category.
AWARD LOGOS. Ultimate Beverage Challenge offers marketing tools such as Challenge logos and award logos to help submitters successfully market their products' scores for advertising, point-of-sale and public relations promotions. They are easily downloadable from our website and don’t require permission to use.
WIDELY PUBLICIZED RESULTS. The results of the Challenges are widely publicized to consumers, the trade and media in print and on-line, and can be easily utilized in marketing and promotion campaigns.
PRODUCT AVAILABILITY. Products entered in any of the three Challenges do not need to be available nationally in the U.S. In fact, entering the challenges is a wonderful way to attract attention for greater distribution. Entry into the Challenges is a way to gain
national recognition within the U.S. in order to possibly gain an importer’s or the media’s notice. For products without a U.S. importer, UBC offers assistance with U.S. Customs documentation.
ULTIMATE BLAST. Spirits, wines and cocktails that participated in the Challenges are invited to take part for a reduced table price in Ultimate Blast, the consumer and media tasting showcase to be held on October 14, 2011 at the Marriott Marquis, New York City.

ADDITIONAL BENEFITS for Chairman’s Trophy Winners and Finalists at ULTIMATE BLAST, 2011

In recognition of your achievement and high score during this year’s Ultimate Spirits Challenge, Ultimate Cocktail Challenge or Ultimate Wine Challenge, you are entitled to an enhanced presence at Ultimate Blast 2011. In addition to the reduced price for your table, you’ll enjoy:

Enhanced listing in the event program for your product’s Ultimate Beverage Challenge results.
Framed certificate on your table highlighting your status as an Ultimate Beverage Challenge high scorer.

Prominent signage display for those featuring their products at the Blast of your product’s name and table location.
Enhanced website listing of your brand on Ultimate Beverage Challenge’s website highlighting your event participation and Challenge results.

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