With a growing number of microdistilleries and an expanding number of offerings from large corporate entities, a number of institutions have arisen to provide professional evaluations of individual spirits. These entities, while recognizing that individual palates are unique and a great deal of subjectivity enters into any assessment, generally use expert panels and blind tastings within a given category to create meaningful and objective ratings.

Most tastings striving for objective results follow a similar format:

Experts typically begin by assessing a given spirit based upon its "appearance" and "nose"—that is, its aroma. It will often be held up to light in clear glass to examine its color and "legs" while sniffing for other flavor "notes".

Second, experts will taste the spirit and let it wash over the palate

Palate

The palate is the roof of the mouth in humans and other mammals. It separates the oral cavity from the nasal cavity. A similar structure is found in crocodilians, but, in most other tetrapods, the oral and nasal cavities are not truly separate. The palate is divided into two parts, the anterior...

 (tongue) searching for more "notes" or flavors and often comment about different foods or scents that it evokes.

Third, experts will swallow (or, more often, spit) and examine the taste sensations for a "second life" or aftertaste

Aftertaste

Aftertaste is the taste intensity of a food or beverage that is perceived immediately after that food or beverage is removed from the mouth. The aftertastes of different foods and beverages can vary by intensity and over time, but the unifying feature of aftertaste is that it is perceived after a...

, again searching for more flavor notes.

San Francisco World Spirits Competition

The San Francisco World Spirits Competition was founded in 2000 by Anthony Dias Blue. Blue is the current director of both the San Francisco World Spirits Competition and the San Francisco International Wine Competition. The Spirits Competition assesses hundreds of entrants annually (more than eleven hundred in 2011 from 61 countries) with "blind" tastings involving panels of expert judges selected each year from the spirits industry including world-renowned mixologists, spirits buyers, and media from across the United States. Producers must submit their product for the competition and pay a fee ($450 for 2011) for its evaluation. Not all entries are given awards (those not judged of sufficient quality are not given an award) but most receive a bronze, silver, or gold medal from the tasting panel. The fact that most entrants receive an award likely involves some degree of self-selection, as the spirits producers choose whether to enter each of their brands in the competition and pay to receive a rating. Those entrants that are given a unanimous gold medal by the panel are given the distinction of a "double-gold" medal. Additionally, a "best in show" designation is awarded in each main category of spirits.

Beverage Testing Institute

The Beverage Testing Institute

Beverage Testing Institute

The Beverage Testing Institute is a marketing service company that provides reviews for spirits, wines, and beers. It uses numerical scores and publishes books of its test results.-Reviews:...

 is based in Chicago, Illinois and founded in 1981 with its initial focus on wine but later branching into the world of spirits and beer. They use a dedicated tasting laboratory in order to create consistent results and minimize external distractions. Each periodic tasting is conducted at the same time of day under identical conditions. The panelists are selected from the professional world of restaurants and publications under the leadership of director Jerald O'Kennard. Not all spirits are given a rating. Those of sufficient merit are awarded a point score between 80 and 100.

• 80–84: Recommended
• 85–89: Highly Recommended
• 90–95: Exceptional
• 96–100: Superlative

The institute seeks to produce "fair and impartial wine reviews for consumers." Buying guides have appeared in All About Beer, Epicurious.com, International Wine Review, Wine Enthusiast, Restaurant Hospitality, The New Yorker Magazine, Wine & Spirits

Wine & Spirits

Wine & Spirits is an American wine magazine. With offices in New York and San Francisco, the magazine publishes eight issues annually.In addition to publisher and editor-in-chief Joshua Greene, among the contributors are Tara Q. Thomas, Patrick Comiskey, Patricio Tapia, Peter Liem, with additional...

, etc.

Wine Enthusiasts

Wine Enthusiasts

Wine Enthusiast Magazine

Wine Enthusiast Magazine is a lifestyle magazine covering wine, food, spirits, travel and entertaining topics. It was founded in 1988 by Adam and Sybil Strum and reaches 680,000 readers. Its wine ratings, conducted by reviewers in major wine-producing areas of the world, comprise a large section of...

publishes a magazine and other media to promote the appreciation of both wines and spirits. It is headquartered in New York and founded in 1979. Currently, spirits reviews are provided by F. Paul Pacult, who does tastings in a controlled environment. Results are given a point score.

• 80–84: Average
• 85–89: Very Good / Recommended
• 90–95: Superb / Highly Recommended
• 96–100: Classic / Highest Recommendation

Proof66

Proof66 does not offer its own reviews, but instead acts as an aggregator of professional ratings including the San Francisco World Spirits Competition, the Beverage Testing Institute, and Wine Enthusiasts. It also incorporates user reviews into its aggregate score. All available ratings are combined and the resulting "aggregate score" is scaled 0–1,000 points.

The primary driver of a liquor's Proof66 aggregate score is the best rating it has ever received from any of the three rating agencies. Because older scores are deemed to be less reliable, points are deducted when a liquor's best score comes from a relatively distant rating competition. The resulting best score is thus said to be age-adjusted. The scoring algorithm then attempts to make adjustments to (a) mitigate the effects of "grade inflation" for the various rating agencies and (b) reward spirits that have been reviewed frequently and by multiple rating agencies. The final component of a liquor's overall score involves user ratings. The relative weight given to user ratings (scores from the "Rabble") is low relative to the professional rating agencies' scores, but is allowed to grow with numbers of user submissions.

Proof66 indicates that its aggregate scores are updated daily to incorporate the most recent competitive results and the newest reviews from the "Rabble."

Blue's Reviews

Anthony Dias Blue, founder of the San Francisco World Spirits Competition and winner of the James Beard award, offers his own set of personal reviews known as "Blue Reviews". He offers scores based upon an 80–100 point scale.

Spirits Review

Spirits Review is a personal review site authored by Chris Carlsson, a self-described "ardent spirit" who has been studying tasting and evaluation of spirits and participates in a variety of tastings. Carlsson is based in Rochester, NY and launched the website in 2005. Spirits Review rankings are based upon a 1 to 10 martini olive rating scale.

• 1 olive: "not fit for fuel in my car"
• 2 olives: "coolant"
• 3 olives: "bottom shelf"
• 4 olives: "drinkable"
• 5 olives: "average"
• 6 olives: "decent"
• 7 olives: "recommended"
• 8 olives: "highly recommended"
• 9 olives: "classic"
• 10 olives: "moksha"

The SIP Awards

The SIP Awards (Spirits International Prestige): Unlike other competitions, which use industry experts or experienced judges, this competition allows a panel of consumers to choose the top winners. The competition is open to any commercial spirit professionally produced that comply with the classification codes listed on their website. Only the highest rated spirits receive SIP Award medals, which include:

• Platinum
• Gold
• Silver
• Bronze

Newer rating organizations

• Los Angeles International Wine and Sprits Competition: this competition was initially for wine only and founded in 1939. In 2007, it began receiving entries for spirits. Awards are provided for gold, silver, and bronze medals. In 2009, there were 199 entries with 179 awarded medals.

• New York Spirits Awards: this competition uses judges drawn from the retail world, including bar owners, sommeliers, and "mixologists" among others. They use a scoring system based upon a point system between 80 and 100 points. The event was first held in 2009.

• Agave Spirits Challenge: a competition designed to feature tequilas and other agave-based spirits (mezcal, sotol, etc.). Their first—and so far only—competitive results are from 2008.