Who makes the world's best single malt whisky? - Whisk(e)y Wednesday presented by Lock & Key

Kavalan Soloist Vinho Barrique Single Cask Strength

Every year since 2007 Whisky Magazine releases the World Whiskies Awards to name the top whiskies in the world. They typically have over 300 entries and go through a multiple-round tasting process to determine the elite sips from around the globe. This year's results came as a shock to many people as a single malt cask strength whisky out of Taiwan called Kavalan Soloist Vinho Barrique took home one of the most coveted prizes: the best single malt whisky in the world for 2015!

Traditionally this category had been dominated single malt Scotch, but last year the Tasmanian Sullivan's Cove French Oak Cask Single Malt took home that prize, and now with the top spot moving to Taiwan, the Scots might need to be worried. In order to be named best in the world, a single malt must first be named best in its region, of which there are 13: Africa, Australia, America, Europe, and Asian get their own regions, as do Ireland and Japan. The rest of the options come from the six whisky regions of Scotland: Highlands, Lowlands, Island, Islay, Campbeltown, and Speyside. So with 6 of the 13 finalists and by far the longest traditions of single malt whisky production, it is easy to see why the Scots are usually the favorites for the award.

Kavalan didn't quite come out of nowhere. In 2012 it won new whisky of the year from Whisky Bible and it also won a gold medal from the San Francisco World Spirits competition. Still, the only whisky distillery on the island of Taiwan, the King Car Distillery, got its start in 2005, so to see it claim the spot as the world's best whisky in 2015 is quite an astonishing accomplishment.

The World Whiskies Awards also have categories for American, Blended Malt, Blended, Canadian, Flavored, Grain, and Pot Still whiskies. Perhaps we'll look at some of those, especially the American category, in next week's Whisk(e)y Wednesday post presented by the Lock & Key Whiskey Bar.

Bite and Booze devours the #SoMes!

Jay and Logan go over the script for the SoMes

Yesterday evening in Baton Rouge may have been a little dreary, but I didn't let that keep me from having a good time! Blair, my Chief Confusion Coordinator, and I fought Baton Rouge traffic for the half-a-mile trip from our office to the Pelican House. With a Gnarly Barley Radical RyePA in one hand I joined my fellow emcee Logan Leger in some script reading, preparing ourselves to host the show. We came up with some good material about trimming beards, Logan's perpetual use of Twitter to talk about LSU Football as if somebody out there cares what he thinks, and my status as a "local celebrity." 

As the show got on the road I ordered a Tin Roof Juke Joint IPA and took to the stage. The crowd that gathered at the Pelican House for the fourth annual #SoMes turned out to be a great one. The audience anxiously awaited the results as the award committee and Baton Rouge Social Media Association board members were introduced. The #SoMes are awards given out for excellence in social media. They cover a broad range of categories from non-profit campaigns to viral pictures. Bite and Booze actually wound up being a finalist in the "Consistently Social" category, an award given out for having the brand which most consistently posts relevant content across multiple social media platforms. I handed out the first award to Visit Baton Rouge, then Logan presented the "Consistently Social" award to... Bite and Booze!

Blair holds up the Consistently Social award for Bite and Booze!

As the emcee, I really hadn't also prepared for a victory in the awards. At previous #SoMes celebrations I had lost out in similar categories to the likes of Raising Cane's and Community Coffee. This year I was up against Abita Beer and Visit Baton Rouge, both with over 100,000 Facebook likes as well as The Advocate, now the state's largest print newspaper. I'm extremely grateful to have been recognized for the work that Bite and Booze does on social media. Obviously the blog itself and the podcast version of the Bite and Booze Radio Show are both forms of new media, but our social media channels themselves, specifically Facebook, Twitter, and Instagram, are definitely active in celebrating the culinary culture of Baton Rouge, the State of Louisiana, and anywhere I travel. I also want to give a shout out to Blair Loup, my previously mentioned Chief Confusion Coordinator, for all her hard work this year helping me manage all of the Bite and Booze social media channels. Her Instagram skillz, in particular, are on fleek.

Thanks to everyone who voted and congratulations to the rest of the winners. We actually also took home a People's Choice award at the end of the night as well thanks to tweets during the show. It turns out the Visit Baton Rouge also earned the People's Choice award for votes cast during the online voting period, so we both won twice! Thanks to the Baton Rouge Social Media Association for inviting me and Logan to host the event. We had a great night!

Jay gives his acceptance speech at the #SoMes - photo credit to @BRSocMe