Spirits & Wine Award Winners, Top Scoring Products, Beverage Industry Trends and Best Wine and Spirits Lists

The frozen drinks machine has been through a long journey, and the drinks being churned out at tops bars across the United States are a far cry from the syrupy frozen daiquiri and margarita mixes of the 90’s. High end machines, combined with cocktail programs that focus on quality ingredients have created a new wave of frozen drinks, including the ever popular frosé — a dangerously delicious combination of rosé, vodka, and sugar. 

As the weather warms and we approach spring, rosé season is just around the corner. So, it’s a good time to look back at our Chairman’s Trophy winner in the rosé category from 2018’s Ultimate Wine Challenge. Cara Viva Rose 2017 Vinho Regional from Portugal scored 95 Points and an Ultimate Recommendation from the wine judges. At just $15 it also won a Great Value award.

To see how our anejo tequilas performed in cocktails we mixed them up into a Anejo Old Fashioned. This classic and straightforward cocktail complements the base spirit with a bit of sugar and bitters, letting the spirit do the majority of the heavy lifting. These 5 tequilas showed the best in this cocktail, earning between 3.5 and 4 stars.

As a relatively quick spirit to produce, there has been a steady increase of craft gin producers in the last few years. With over 50 gin entries at Ultimate Spirits Challenge 2018, it is a diverse category with a lot of high scoring spirits. Our top 6 gins all scored an impressive 94 Points or above.