The CHALLENGE

The Scottish Field Whisky Challenge has established itself as an important landmark on the Scottish whisky calendar and now, in its 22nd year, we are delighted to introduce the first stage in this year’s competition.

In total, 39 exciting new expressions were sent out to nine expert judges this year to be tried and tested against some of the most discerning taste buds in Scotland. This year’s line up features a mix of rich single malts, ryes and blends that have come from all corners of Scotland to compete in their respective categories. The Scottish Field Whisky Challenge organises these by price, with expressions under £50, between £50 and £100, and over £100 competing within their respective price ranges.

Despite the trials recent years have presented, Scottish whisky remains as important as ever. With the whisky industry accounting for over 11,000 jobs in Scotland and with 44 bottles shipped to 180 markets worldwide every single second, whisky’s contribution to Scotland’s economy and international reputation continues to grow, and highlights the major significance of the Scottish Field Whisky Challenge.

As the beating heart of Scotland’s food and drink industry and a world renowned national product, Scottish whisky is truly iconic and absolutely worth celebrating.

The Scottish Field Whisky Challenge gains its impeccable credibility through its acutely egalitarian process. Quality alone determines the winners as our judges select not by label, name or price, but by taste alone.

Scottish Field decants the 39 expressions into 30ml bottles marked with only an identification number for our judges to make as impartial a decision as possible.

After tasting, the judges provide a mark out of five for each whisky. The lowest and highest marks are then taken away, and the remaining scores are used to formulate an average for each expression. Alongside this, the judges provide detailed tasting notes.

When the scores are collected, the whiskies are separated into their price based categories and first, second and third place in each is revealed. The top whisky in each category then automatically enters the running to be crowned grand prize winner.

This year’s grand finale will be hosted at the Sheraton Hotel at the end of October, an unmissable event for lovers of all things whisky, and a lavish end to an exciting challenge celebrating Scotland’s most prized drink.

The top 10 whiskies from across the three categories are listed, so readers can see (and taste) for themselves some of the finest expressions available.

“Quality determines the winners as our judges select by taste alone