Judges & Stewards

The best in the industry judging excellence in the glass

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Judges

Lead Judge: Nancy Fraley

Nancy Fraley is a whiskey and rum blender and consultant. She runs a firm called Nosing Services in Berkeley, CA, where she provides custom blending, …

Caroline Ashford

Founder and editor of The Gin Queen, launched in December 2013 and is now Australia's largest website devoted to gin. I am the Australian Ambassador …

Dimple Athavia

Dimple Athavia is founder of All Things Drinks, a new online drinks retail company which is born out of her passion for bringing amazing flavours …

Zahra Bates

Zahra Bates had humble beginnings in spirits. She had to beg to be let behind the bar. Learning how to make drinks and provide a quality experience …

Steven Beal

Steven Beal is one of the most respected whiskey experts in the world. He has worked as a brand ambassador for some of the largest whiskey brands …

Robert Cassell

Robert Cassell is an entrepreneur and award winning master distiller of New Liberty Distillery in Pennsylvania and Connacht Whiskey Company in …

Paul Clarke

Paul Clarke is Imbibe Magazine’s Executive Editor and the author of The Cocktail Chronicles: Navigating the Cocktail Renaissance with Jigger, …

Elayne Duff

Jet-set mixologist turned on-trade consultant, New York native Elayne Duff is an accomplished professional with more than 15 years within the …

Philip Duff

Philip Duff is one of the cocktail community’s best-loved educators. As a renowned expert on all distilled spirits (but especially gin & …

Tracie Franklin

Tracie Franklin is a whiskey educator, marketing consultant, public speaker, writer, and distillation apprentice who lives in Washington D.C. …

Tobias Gorn

Tobias Gorn is an award winning drinks and cigar writer and consultant based in the UK. In 2003, he began his career in the drinks industry and …

Lenny Gotter

Lenny Gotter founded Eastside Distilling and was the CEO from 2008 to 2014 when the company was the first craft distillery to go public on NASDAQ …

Stephen Gould

Mr. Gould is currently the Proprietor and Master Distiller at Golden Moon Distillery, ADI's 2019 Distillery of the Year. He is also a consulting …

Monique Huston

Monique Huston entered the beverage/hospitality industry waiting tables at the age of 14. She spent 10 years curating the whiskey collection …

Aaron Knoll

Gin expert, Aaron Knoll is the author of the spirits blog “the Gin is in” and co-author of The Craft of Gin (White Mule Press, 2013). Knoll’s …

Eric Kozlik

Washington, DC-based cocktail entrepreneur Eric Kozlik is the CEO of Modern Bar Cart, host of The Modern Bar Cart Podcast, and creator of The …

Julie Lee

Julie Lee has been working in spirits industry for more than 20 years. She has received a certificate in distilling from the Institute of Brewing …

Jennifer Massolo

Jennifer Massolo started in the beverage industry in 1994 with Cognac giant, Remy Martin, in her hometown of Vancouver, BC. In 1997, exploring …

Sarah Miller

Sarah Miller is the founder of ginadingding.com which launched in 2016. She is an experienced spirits judge - regularly joining panels at the …

Virginia Miller

Virginia Miller has traveled the world in pursuit of her love of good food and drink. She was the former Vice President of Content/ Senior Managing …

Rosie Milsom

Rosie is a flavour enthusiast, spirits lover and self-confessed packaging geek, delighted by taste and beauty in all its forms. With more …

Julia Nourney

Julia Nourney is an independent spirits consultant based in Germany who has been working in the industry for almost 20 years. For the last decade …

Bernadette Pamplin

After working in a gin bar, Bernadette Pamplin created and began writing the gin website, undertheginfluence.com, in April 2015. Pamplin fell …

Lauren Patz

As Spirit Works Distillery head distiller, Lauren Patz oversees all development and production of the distillery’s range of grain-to-glass …

Salvador Peribán

Salvador Peribán develops strategies and processes to achieve sustainable, fair, and beautiful products, including agave spirits, bottles, and …

Brett Pontoni

Brett Pontoni is Spirits Buyer for Binny’s Beverage Depot, in Chicago, the largest liquor retailer in the Midwest. He has been a supporter …

Henry Preiss

After his father’s wine-importing business changed hands, Henry Preiss founded Preiss Imports, bringing some of the best small liqueurs and …

Keli Rivers

Keli Rivers started bartending in Tokyo’s Roppongi nightclub district and has lived on every continent except Antarctica. A veteran of some …

Danny Ronen

Almost 20 years ago, Danny Ronen founded DC Spirits, a food, wine, & spirits educational organization with a focus on small producers and …

Alain Royer

Alain Royer, 6th generation of a Cognac family, born in Bordeaux, raised in Cognac, educated at the Sorbonne in Paris, has been involved all …

Lara Victoria

Lara Victoria is a WSET Certified Educator and Certified Sherry Educator teaching all levels of certification in wine, spirits and sake for Cru …

David Warter

David Warter joined the Gallo winery in 1999. He earned both an MS in Viticulture and Enology and an MBA from the University of California, Davis …

Heather Wibbels

Heather Wibbels, an award-winning mixologist and Managing Director of Bourbon Women, consults with spirits brands to create content, education …

 

Stewards

Lead Steward: David T. Smith

World renowned spirits expert and author, David T. Smith serves as the Lead Steward for the Judging of Craft Spirits. As the lead steward he oversees …

Head Recorder: Sara Smith

An experienced spirits judge and writer, Sara Smith is a data expert who constructs and maintains the database to record all the judging entries …