GEORGE MANSKA ADVISORY COUNCIL
George Manska, inventor of the Neat Glass is the Advisory Council fo the San Diego Spirits Festival International Spirits Competition. George is the Chief of Research and Development, Corporate Strategy officer of Arsilica, Inc., Las Vegas, NV and inventor of the NEAT glass, and NEAT science of nosing and evaluation.
Why we use NEAT as our official judging glass:
For years the spirits industry has ignored science and promoted tiny tulip glasses originally designed for fortified wine. Overabundant ethanol in spirits quickly numbs the nose in these tiny glasses rendering evaluation useless. NEAT eliminates nose burn and numbing, displays all aromas, and delivers competition level performance, letting every spirit speak for itself. NEAT improves credibility of spirits, judges and ratings. The best competitions use NEAT.
2021 INTERNATIONAL SPIRITS COMPETITION
The 2021 San Diego Spirits Festival International Bottle Competition is open for entries from emerging craft distillers, American merchant bottlers and large distillers alike, the competition will bring renowned experts from the worlds of spirits and hospitality together to determine the best tasting spirits in a blind analysis, the double blind competition will be based on a 100 point scale the competition will be held August 21st 2021
We are the most cost-effective International Spirits Competition
Design Awards are also judged at no additional cost
Winning brands have full use of their medals and images
The integrity of San Diego Spirits Festival International Spirits Competition starts with the quality and expertise of our Esteemed Judges. Our Judges have a wide variety of experiences and backgrounds and this facilitates a true, unbiased quality of judging of all the brands that have entered.
2021 Judges - Judges subject to changes
Philip Dobard – Museum of the American Cocktail
Andrew Faulkner – Andrew Faulkner Communications
Brian Christensen – Artisan Spirits Magazine
Paul Garduño - PGV Restaurant Consulting
Rich Manning – Writer, Blogger, all round expert
Greg Nagel – Writer, Blogger, all round expert
Billy Nordmeier - Certified Sommelier, WSET Advanced, CSW
John Fluke - Placed4Success LLC (P4STV)
Tony Menechella - Writer, Reviewer, Certified Specialist of Spirits
Jeremiah White – American Beverage Brokers
Dennis Morales -Drink Labs
Eric Stand - The Whiskey Scout
Julie Albin - Brand & Media Strategist, Journalist, Dip WSET Educator
Irina Ponomarenko -Wine Educator at IVDC Wines, LLC
Bartenders
Mike Yen
AJ Magana
Evgeny Anisimov;
Joan Villanueva
Heath Wetherbee
Simone Rubio
Peter Edwards Executive Chef
Spirits will be presented to judges in coded NEAT glasses in a blind tasting format. No spirits bottles will be visible to judges at any time until the competition is finished. Staff members will be prohibited from mentioning any spirits brand names entered in the competition.
For International entrants to the competition that need assistance with import into the United States, please contact our exclusive importer AMERICAN SPIRITS LTD. Chelsea@americanspiritsltd.com
International Entries MUST have a Cola Waiver
Please don't delay start the process early