Three Zamora Company brands take home top honors!
Three top spirits and wine brands in the Zamora Company USA portfolio – Yellow Rose Whiskey, Martin Miller's Gin, and Ramón Bilbao Rioja – have recently earned prominent industry awards and recognition.
Yellow Rose Whiskey
Yellow Rose, the first legal whiskey distillery in Houston, achieved an "Extraordinary" "Ultimate Recommendation" score of 96 points in the recent 2020 Ultimate Spirits Challenge, along with "Great Value," "Finalist," and "Top 100 Spirits" honors for the distillery's Yellow Rose American Rye Whiskey. Describing the rye as "smooth in texture that finishes with just a touch of dusty leather," the Ultimate Spirits Challenge distinguished judging panel noted that the "light and bright aromas of yellow peach and freshly milled grains" are earthy and enticing and create a complex set of flavors. Also, Yellow Rose Outlaw Bourbon earned an "Excellent" "Highly Recommended" 93 points in the competition, outscoring many of the other top American whiskeys when the 2020 Ultimate Spirits Challenge results were announced late last month.
The Ultimate Spirits Challenge was established in 2010 with a mission to provide the industry and consumers a clear and unassailable indication of beverage quality by tapping top beverage alcohol authors, journalists, educators, distributors, and buyers to taste and judge spirits based on their integrity, method and credibility.
Martin Miller's Gin
Martin Miller's, long recognized for its high quality and remarkably smooth taste, is distilled in England using Icelandic spring water and was the first super-premium gin on the market when it launched more than 20 years ago.
All three core gins in the Martin Miller's portfolio were recently awarded top medals and ratings from Chicago's Beverage Testing Institute, one of the world's most comprehensive and reliable sources for alcohol beverage product testing and professional reviews: 97 points and a Platinum medal for Martin Miller's Westbourne Strength Gin; 96 points and a Platinum medal for Martin Miller's Original Gin; and 93 points and a Gold medal for Martin Miller's 9 Moons Solera Reserve Barrel Aged Gin.
In July, Martin Miller's Westbourne Gin also earned a premier commendation – the Master Medal – from the highly competitive Spirits Business Global Spirits Masters, an annual blind-tasting competition which featured almost 200 expressions of gin alone. Martin Miller's Original Gin and Martin Miller's 9 Moons were also awarded Gold medals in the 2020 contest.
Bodegas Ramón Bilbao
In April, Ramon Bilbao was recognized as the most admired Rioja brand on the Drinks International "World's Most Admired Wine Brands 2020" list, and was awarded the "Highest Climber" distinction for its 17th place ranking in the world, overall (up from its 40th place ranking in 2019). Only six Spanish wine brands made the list of 50.
Founded in 1924, Bodegas Ramón Bilbao is one of the top-selling Spanish wines in the world, and as noted by Drinks International in bestowing the "Most Admired" honor, is strongly committed to sustainable viticulture, rural development, and innovation, taking "forward-thinking steps in response to environmental change, minimizing the use of fertilizers and pesticides and investigating the potential for growing at higher altitudes rather than on Rioja's sun-parched valley floors to pursue the elegant style it aims for."
The "World's Most Admired Wine Brands" ranking is drawn from surveying international trade experts (retail buyers, importers and wholesalers, sommeliers and bartenders, journalists, and wine educators) who are asked to select wine brands they most admire based on a list of criteria including quality, authenticity, and brand image.
"While we're understandably proud of our premium spirits and wine portfolio, it's always very gratifying when others in the industry also recognize the quality, craftsmanship and authenticity that defines each of our outstanding brands," says Bill Corbett, CEO of Zamora Company USA. "We're delighted about these recent awards, but more importantly, we're honored that consumers and the trade have continued to embrace and enjoy all of our world-class spirits and wine."
