The Global Drinks Awards celebrates excellence across all styles. Products are not
rewarded for being the biggest, oldest, rarest or most intense – they are rewarded for
being the best examples of what they set out to achieve.
The Global Drinks Awards recognises quality, innovation and excellence across the international drinks industry.
All products are assessed blind by expert judges using a structured scoring framework. Judges focus solely on the liquid in the glass – not brand reputation, packaging, price point or marketing.
Every product is judged against the expectations of its own style and category, ensuring fair comparison between established classics, emerging producers and innovative new products.
The quality, clarity, definition and expression of the product’s aroma.
Flavour quality, complexity, technical execution, texture and overall drinking experience.
How successfully all elements work together, including flavour, structure, alcohol integration, sweetness, acidity, bitterness and style expectations.
The quality, persistence and overall impression left by the product.
Gold medal-winning products progress for consideration in category, country and global awards.
Whisky, rum, brandy, matured agave spirits and other wood-matured spirits.
Judges assess:
Aroma clarity and maturation character
• Flavour depth and complexity
• Integration of spirit and maturation influence
• Structure, texture and balance
• Finish, persistence and flavour evolution
Products are rewarded for quality and execution, regardless of style, age, rarity or intensity.
Vodka, gin, white rum, blanco agave spirits, cachaça, pisco, baijiu, shochu, soju, aquavit and other unaged spirits.
Judges assess:
Purity and precision
• Flavour quality and clarity
• Technical execution
• Alcohol integration
• Mouthfeel, structure and balance
Products are judged on quality of execution rather than intensity of flavour.
Cream liqueurs, fruit liqueurs, coffee liqueurs, herbal liqueurs, flavoured gin, flavoured rum, flavoured vodka, flavoured whisky and speciality flavoured spirits.
Judges assess:
Bitters, aperitifs, amaro, digestifs and botanical-led products.
Judges assess:
• Botanical clarity and complexity
• Flavour depth and structure
• Alcohol quality and integration
• Balance between bitterness, sweetness and acidity
• Finish and flavour evolution
Bitterness and intensity are judged positively when balanced and purposeful.
Canned and bottled cocktails, spirit mixers, hard seltzers and RTDs.
Judges assess:
• Quality as a finished serve
• Freshness and flavour accuracy
• Balance between alcohol, sweetness, acidity and carbonation
• Texture and drinkability
• Quality of finish
Products are judged as complete drinks rather than as individual ingredients.
No and low-alcohol spirits, beers, ciders, cocktail alternatives, aperitifs and RTDs.
Judges assess:
• Flavour quality and depth
• Body and texture
• Balance and drinkability
• Style expression and intended drinking experience
• Finish and persistence
Where a product aims to replicate an alcoholic style, judges consider how convincingly it achieves that expression while recognising the challenges of reduced or absent alcohol.
Sake, sparkling sake, nigori sake and other rice-based fermented drinks.
Judges assess:
• Aroma clarity and style expression
• Flavour quality and precision
• Texture, umami and structure
• Balance between sweetness, acidity and alcohol
• Finish, elegance and persistence
Products are judged within the context of their individual sake or rice-based style.
3 February 2026
14 September 2026
2 October 2026
18 November 2026
