(11 votes, average: 4.64 out of 5)
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For the past several months on my daily commute to work I have been greeted by an advertisement that I eventually had to follow up on. The sign claimed that Iceberg Vodka was voted a gold medal at the 2009 Cannes Vodka competition. Now I regard Iceberg as a lower level offering on par with Smironoff and Absolute so I was suprised by such a prestigous award. I figured that maybe I could save some money on the Belvedere I typically purchase and make the switch to this inexpensive yet ‘highly premium’ vodka. Not so fast.
Iceberg and the entire North American distillery industry should be ashamed. A lot of these awards and competitions are a farce to drive up sales. I guess the only way to determine what is good is to sample a variety of alcohols until you stumble upons something you like.
For the past several months on my daily commute to work I have been greeted by an advertisement that I eventually had to follow up on. The sign claimed that Iceberg Vodka was voted a gold medal at the 2009 Cannes Vodka competition. Now I regard Iceberg as a lower level offering on par with Smironoff and Absolute so I was suprised by such a prestigous award. I figured that maybe I could save some money on the Belvedere I typically purchase and make the switch to this inexpensive yet ‘highly premium’ vodka. Not so fast.
Now, I haven’t tried Iceberg Vodka and after investigating this ‘award’, nor will I ever. I did some research and there was a very casual vodka tasting event at the Cannes FILM festival and here is the list of winners. Now I don’t even care who won that competition as the number of companies participating was tiny, the event was informl and was more of a PR stunt rather then a real competition. Even more notable is the fact that Iceberg Vodka wasn’t even a participant.
I contacted the company asking them why they had this claim in their sign hoping that I had overlooked something but was completely ignored by them. Its too bad they didn’t realize their poor customer service skills would result in negative publicity on a popular bartending website.
As a result of this entire ordeal I figured JoeBartender.com would hold its own tasting competition. Real people testing real Spirits. Lets get a consumers opinion on what is good and what isn’t, forget about these weird competition with so called experts. What matters is when people like you and I order a Vodka water or a shot of Whiskey at the bar it tastes great. Now despite emailing every North American distillery asking them to participate I did not get one company willing to enter. What a crock!
Iceberg and the entire North American distillery industry should be ashamed. A lot of these awards and competitions are a farce to drive up sales. I guess the only way to determine what is good is to sample a variety of alcohols until you stumble upons something you like.
Popularity: 7% [?]
November 9th, 2009 at 12:48 pm
Sounds like quite the hoax. Even more major and serious awards are usually highly biased, as they’re controlled by their respective industries. That’s for instance why I quite like the Drammies (http://inebrio.com/thescotchblog/?p=988), which is at least honest and open about it’s voting scheme.
November 10th, 2009 at 1:50 am
I hadn’t heard about this event (although it’s impossible to follow every single PR event in Cannes). Good luck with running your own award. Do you actually need their cooperation? I’ve reviewed beers before and we bought them off the shelf. What’s to stop me giving my fave an award?
November 11th, 2009 at 3:14 pm
I think most of these competitions and ratings in all sorts of areas are totally bogus. Like who really voted Nurofen as the UKs “most innovating health produce of 2009″ etc!
BTW I love your site logo – did you do that yourself?
November 12th, 2009 at 8:51 pm
alcohol testing competition ! realy this the first time i m hearing about that.i think Neic is right.
thanks for your good informative post.
November 13th, 2009 at 2:41 am
I believe the reviewers like which ever drink companies give them the most free samples – but then I’m just a big cynic!
November 14th, 2009 at 8:35 am
My daddy like alcohol~~but we need to care more about the alcohol testing!!
November 15th, 2009 at 5:45 am
Alcohol testing rivalry ! really this the primary occasion i m examination concerning so as to .i feel Niece is correct .gratitude for your high-quality instructive job.
November 17th, 2009 at 12:23 am
Alcohol testing? Maybe they are professional enough to judge this event. Alcohol drinks are really hard to determine whether they are good or not…
November 17th, 2009 at 9:03 am
Thank you for such interesting publicity for our event. I am responsible for the vodka tasting at UNITED VODKA tasting competition. If you are really interested by our event, welcome to http://www.unitedvodka.com. It is professional vodka tasting competition, existing since year 2000 in Brussels and having special rewarding events in Cannes. Our tasting panel composed by professionals in vodka production, tasters and bartenders. It is blind tasting. Our competition has the most prestigious awards (for quality, packaging and achievements in vodka production), that is why UNITED VODKA medals are very important for vodka producers worldwide. I do not know, who send you a mail you mentioned, but Iceberg vodka was tasted by UNITED VODKA experts and did not get medal this year as soon as competition is very hard even for Absolute among Russian and Ukrainian vodkas. As I said, it is blind tasting and trade mark owner’s money, invested in publicity does not support tasting results. And I would suggest you to learn better a subject before express your opinion about. Good luck.
November 17th, 2009 at 9:26 am
That’s how I feel with all tasting competition, doesn’t come down to the individual, I think so.
November 17th, 2009 at 2:06 pm
hey I like this!! : )
And&
I like your blog!
Its very enriching, interesting.
Its so varied, illustrations inspire me.
Good continuation.
November 19th, 2009 at 10:11 am
nice story, thanks for sharing it man!
November 19th, 2009 at 1:48 pm
drunks are the perfect candidates for testing, well maybe not total drunks but you get what i mean
wine testing i understand but alch, im not to sure.
November 19th, 2009 at 1:51 pm
What matters is when people like you and I order a Vodka water or a shot of Whiskey at the bar it tastes great.
November 19th, 2009 at 7:35 pm
I’ll tell my students about this topic for them get more exp.
November 19th, 2009 at 8:17 pm
Interesting, I enjoyed this, and your entire blog as well.. Bookmarked
November 19th, 2009 at 8:51 pm
I never heard of this alcohol testing before but I think the drunks will be apt for this otherwise who are tasting this for good or bad will not be a right decision.
November 20th, 2009 at 8:30 pm
Nice tips to try lose Stomach fat. btw is very difficult to try that.?
November 21st, 2009 at 2:35 am
Nice tips to try lose Stomach fat. btw is very difficult to try that.?
November 21st, 2009 at 5:01 am
Wow cool story thanks for sharing
November 21st, 2009 at 7:26 am
kredyt studencki
November 22nd, 2009 at 11:41 pm
Alcohol testing competition really i am hearing first time. alcohol testing competition ! realy this the first time i m hearing about that.i think Neic is right.
thanks for your good informative post.
November 24th, 2009 at 9:08 am
I love alcohol…
cheers
November 25th, 2009 at 10:29 am
I guess many brands always claim something. Whether they have what to back that claim doesn’t really matter huh? Most people won’t even care to check it out. If they like it, hey they’ll like it. But it does attract or add a sort of appeal if you say “we’re #1!” or something.
November 27th, 2009 at 4:50 am
I myself thought there were some problems with the judges in the alcohol tasting competitions. I think the prizes are given based on what “donations” are made.
November 27th, 2009 at 11:18 am
? ??? ?? ???????? ??????????? ??????.????????????? ????? ? ????? ?? ??? ????????
November 28th, 2009 at 8:04 am
new here and havent been about for long but thought id post to say nice blog ime slowly reading my way through the posts keep up the good work, and thanks for taking the time to post.
November 30th, 2009 at 4:08 am
Give them this, their ad did get you to check out their product.
November 30th, 2009 at 4:45 am
Great article – thanks for posting!
November 30th, 2009 at 8:21 pm
that’s from the same story, as who is tasting dog food
November 30th, 2009 at 11:26 pm
same, this the first time i’m hearing about that.
December 1st, 2009 at 4:33 am
Same as most winners of “voted best” reviews etc!
I never judge products by what “awards” they have won, only by what I have tried or been recommended by people I trust.
ps.
A lot of these comments look like spam from people who have arrived here looking for a free “dofollow” linkS, I would suggest that they look at the code before posting a spam comment as it is clearly “external nofollow”!
December 2nd, 2009 at 12:02 pm
the problem with this sort of testing is it is hugely personal each person will think a different thing the only real way to do it would be with large numbers of testers.
December 2nd, 2009 at 2:52 pm
Any kind of tasting competition is going to be bull. Taste isn’t something you can measure except by taking surveys of large groups. Otherwise it’s personal.
December 3rd, 2009 at 7:31 am
Thanks for posting this interesting article.
December 3rd, 2009 at 10:09 am
I think authorities should go into the core of the controversy and check the legitimacy of the winners. Just my two cents.
December 4th, 2009 at 3:00 am
Thank you very much for your information. It was a great help.
December 5th, 2009 at 1:23 am
De gustibus non est disputandum….
The taste is right in every person … Congratulations for the article and the blog
December 5th, 2009 at 1:38 am
Alcohol is the harm for the health, then how the Cannes committe conducted this type of harmful festival?this award may encourage the company but the number of families’ future?Will they conduct any festival and awards for the looser from that alcohol?.The culture is totally going down.Anyway everything has a limit…
December 14th, 2009 at 12:33 am
Thanks , It was a great help for me
December 14th, 2009 at 1:01 pm
I smell a conspiracy. Whichever company pays the most wins the competition. A big PR scam maybe?
December 14th, 2009 at 1:26 pm
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December 16th, 2009 at 7:37 am
wat the hell is this
btw i dont like alchohol
December 17th, 2009 at 7:07 am
Does this site not have the coolest looking logo ever?
December 21st, 2009 at 11:35 am
Alcohol is harmful for the body, we should avoid these thing to stay strong.
December 22nd, 2009 at 1:03 pm
I tried this swill the other day. Maybe swill is too strong a word, but it’s definitely not worthy of any kind of award. Definitely.
December 23rd, 2009 at 10:06 am
And&
I like your blog!
Its very enriching, interesting.
Its so varied, illustrations inspire me.
Good continuation
December 23rd, 2009 at 11:00 am
The post is good – the comments are interesting!
December 28th, 2009 at 12:07 pm
That seems like a joke that nobody would participate in the contest. Maybe b/c you couldn’t be bought like some of the other competitions. I would love to see you do a review on beer maybe they will participate! Great site!
December 28th, 2009 at 1:47 pm
I hate crap pr stunts like this. But I guess that is advertising for you.
December 29th, 2009 at 11:15 am
My God1 there seems to be a competition for everything…now for alcohol testing….I am sure there will be a lot of competitors.
December 29th, 2009 at 11:29 am
Eh, companies have been proclaiming themselves the best of x for ages –what’d impress me is whatever some super-old (and appropriately bearded) Russian guy would choose given a few hundred in a well-stocked store.
January 3rd, 2010 at 7:49 am
How can I take part in this competition
January 3rd, 2010 at 11:34 pm
haha, theres obviously payoffs going on
January 4th, 2010 at 11:28 am
i love alcohollll i wanna be drunkkkkkkk
January 5th, 2010 at 9:01 am
What they’ll do if I drink rather than tasting. On seeing all these kind of stuffs how can one just taste them!! Incredible. I will get a room there and have fun all the day
January 6th, 2010 at 5:55 am
How did you know that there’s really pay off?
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January 8th, 2010 at 1:58 am
Thank’s to spend your time to share. This is what I (and others, I believe), really need. It’s really very informative post. Please keep it up. Looking for more relevant post
January 9th, 2010 at 5:02 pm
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January 18th, 2010 at 2:35 pm
It’s interesting article to discuss about alcohol tasting competition. Thanks for sharing, mate!
January 22nd, 2010 at 5:28 am
LOL good question.
Nice post you have written there.
January 25th, 2010 at 5:02 am
I want to participate this competition. How can i participate and what rules will i follow?
January 26th, 2010 at 3:23 am
I did not heard about the alcohol testing and this is the first time. I think it will surely gives joy for drinkers. Cheers!!
January 27th, 2010 at 3:39 pm
Great Question, i’ve been wondering the same thing for a while now.
January 28th, 2010 at 11:30 pm
Wow first time heard about this Alcohol tasting competitions.I haven’t heard this news yet that Iceberg Vodka was voted a gold medal at the 2009 Cannes Vodka competition.Really enjoyed a lot,thanks a lot for sharing.
January 31st, 2010 at 12:45 pm
das ist wirklich ?berraschend, danke f?r die Information..
February 1st, 2010 at 9:50 am
Alcohol testing I was not aware of, that is very interesting. I would actually like to see this competition in action! But I agree it needs to be the consumers that is testing the alcohol that way they can get a consumers prospective! Thanks
February 1st, 2010 at 10:10 am
We have the same issue in our industry… seems to be an awards do every night and the results make it into press releases and magazines once a month. The only problem is, who the hell decided they were an authority on the subject!
Power to the people I say, if magazines want some content let us vote on it!
February 1st, 2010 at 11:58 am
I guess there’s no right answer to this. It’s a matter of who steps up to the plate first.
February 1st, 2010 at 12:51 pm
This is a great article topic I would love to take part in alcohol testing.
February 1st, 2010 at 10:23 pm
Good post– love alcohol testing myself!
February 1st, 2010 at 10:25 pm
That “Lightning Royale” above is pretty good! Thanks for the recipe LLenergy.
February 1st, 2010 at 10:31 pm
wow– interesting that no one took the challenge! seems like it would be a great event to start and promote…
February 1st, 2010 at 10:32 pm
Very cool blog post. Thanks!
February 3rd, 2010 at 6:06 am
Thanks for the info Joe. I know i will not be buying any Iceberg Vodka (not that i ever have)On that note just give me a shot of Jack (or 2, or 3, or….) and im good.
February 4th, 2010 at 11:21 pm
nice info ,thaks for sharing about it
February 5th, 2010 at 10:58 pm
If there is no good participant how can they say it is prestigious awards. ridiculous.
February 7th, 2010 at 2:01 pm
superrr
February 7th, 2010 at 5:21 pm
Like you said yes this week about the re valentine’s day
February 8th, 2010 at 3:10 am
It would be really an exciting stuff to do.
February 9th, 2010 at 12:07 pm
Very interesting post!
February 10th, 2010 at 1:55 pm
Its very enriching, interesting.
Its so varied, illustrations inspire me.
& Alcohol is harmful for the body, we should avoid these thing to stay strong.
I would love to see you do a review on beer maybe they will participate! Great site!
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February 15th, 2010 at 1:42 pm
yam yam alcohol…
February 15th, 2010 at 2:14 pm
Alcohol testing rivalry ! really this the primary occasion i m examination concerning so as to .i feel Niece is correct .gratitude for your high-quality instructive job.
Thanks for the great article!
February 17th, 2010 at 3:16 am
Nice post ………
February 17th, 2010 at 2:38 pm
Could someone tell me if there will be another competition like this?
February 19th, 2010 at 4:47 pm
Lol very funny post.
must have been an easy win for everyone
February 20th, 2010 at 3:58 am
Sometimes, I think these competitions and ratings in all sorts of areas are totally bogus. If there is no good participant how can they say it is prestigious awards.
February 20th, 2010 at 4:26 am
Its is very interesting, Alcohol is harmful for the body, we should avoid such type of things.
February 20th, 2010 at 4:27 am
Its is very interesting, Alcohol is harmful for the body, we should avoid such type of things.
February 20th, 2010 at 8:31 am
I say let them have a Drink enjoy
February 21st, 2010 at 8:03 am
seems like it would be a great event to start and promote…
February 22nd, 2010 at 10:35 pm
I now have too much fat, too fat too fat
February 23rd, 2010 at 8:34 pm
Alcohol testing? I don’t know why but that sounds thrilling!
February 24th, 2010 at 10:09 am
These competitions have become less a taste contest and more of a popularity contest. With brewers using taste test awards as ways to market their brand.
February 25th, 2010 at 3:45 am
Well this seems like a big hoax. It is a shame that big companies give out fake information about their product. That it should be better than other products, just to get the sales up.
Great post.
February 25th, 2010 at 7:08 pm
Actually have no idea about this site before. I observe this site it’s looking nice, all post is great and interesting. I think this post increase my knowledge. I hope next time we get more excellent topic. Thanks for sharing.
February 26th, 2010 at 11:21 pm
The article is really interesting.
“Alcohol Testing Competition “-I’m first hear this type of competition.
I think its amazing but it should be restricted.
Ok, Thank you.
February 27th, 2010 at 3:59 pm
These things are fixed. Its all about the money!
February 27th, 2010 at 8:29 pm
I personally think that these competetions are setup completely to benefit the larger companies. But I like the concept.
March 1st, 2010 at 4:57 am
Alcohol testing competition, that’s something that I would look forward. lol
Good one
March 2nd, 2010 at 1:05 am
yeah..alcohol competition.. Thats something that I never heard before.
thanks
March 4th, 2010 at 5:38 pm
This post has given me damn good idea to try it out over this weekend. I know what all I m going to mix it up.. will update after that
March 6th, 2010 at 7:01 am
Medal is very gold.. This is good!
March 8th, 2010 at 11:23 pm
so good………
March 9th, 2010 at 2:35 pm
Good point! I’m surprised at how much work goes into these, as well as the quality of beer that comes out.
March 12th, 2010 at 10:12 am
What a great article. I happen to like the iceberg vodka and can see why it got the gold. Its a love it or hate it kind of vodka. At least in my area it is, some friends can’t stand it but others love it.