For beverage producers, international competitions are a way to demonstrate to everyone the quality of their products. With strict rules, only the best win. And if a drink has won an award, consumers can be sure that they are purchasing a really good product.
There are several international competitions that reward the best drinks, such as the Singapore World Spirits Competition, San Francisco World Spirits Competition, Cathay Pacific Hong Kong International Wine & Spirits Competition, among others. In all of them, drinks are separated into different distillates, such as vodka, whiskey, rum, gin, among others, in addition to the wine category. Each category has specific rules and documentation. It is worth mentioning that there are no competitions of this type in Brazil.
During the competitions, the judges evaluate samples of each drink in a blind test, thus ensuring the equality of the process. While tasting the samples, the judges give each one a rating individually, without comparing it to the other drinks in the competition. At this stage, each judge evaluates specific aspects of the drinks, such as aroma, flavor, appearance and aftertaste. Notes are compared, and the best-rated drinks go to a final trial, where the best of the best is chosen, according to the rules of each competition.
To break the prejudice that only imported spirits are of quality, Kalvelage has been sending its products to different competitions since 2014, and has received 21 medals in total. Most of the awards took place at the San Francisco World Spirits Competition and the Cathay Pacific Hong Kong International Wine & Spirit Competition, in different years, proving that the quality of Kalvelage products was not a mere coincidence.
Kalvelage Vodka
In 2014, Kalvelage Vodka received a silver medal at the Cathay Pacific Hong Kong International Wine & Spirit Competition. The following year, in this same tournament, he received bronze, and in 2016 he won silver again.
At the San Francisco World Spirits Competition, the first award was silver in 2014. The following year, it won its highest award: a gold medal. In 2016, it was awarded silver. Also in 2016, he won the silver medal at the New York World Wine & Spirits Competition.
Vodka Kalvelage OAK
Kalvelage Oak Vodka received bronze at the New York World Wine & Spirits Competition in 2019, and has won silver for three consecutive years at the San Francisco World Spirits Competition: 2019, 2020 and 2021.
Vodka Kalvelage Vibe
With great international prominence, Kalvelage Vibe Vodka won a medal for the first time in 2016, with silver at the Cathay Pacific Hong Kong International Wine & Spirits Competition. The following year, in San Francisco, he won a bronze medal. Back in Hong Kong in 2018, Kalvelage Vibe Vodka won the gold medal. Finally, in 2019, came the bronze medal. Again at the San Francisco World Spirits Competition, there were three more medals: bronze in 2019, silver in 2020, and another gold in 2021.
Kalvelage London Dry Gin
Like vodkas, Kalvelage gin also won awards in international competitions. As it is a more recently developed product, it participated in fewer competitions, but did not fall short in any of them: it received a bronze in 2020 and a gold in 2021, both at the San Francisco World Spirits Competition.
In all the competitions it participated in, Kalvelage proved its quality, and brought more than 20 medals to Brazil. Winning medals in consecutive years proves that the level of products does not decline even with an increase in production. The pioneering spirit of Kalvelage Distillery, combined with the use of national ingredients, shows that the country can also be an excellent producer of vodkas and gins, contrary to what many imagined.
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