Are you the world’s best whiskey taster? Put your palate to the test

Put your palate to the test and potentially get a cool gig out of the deal. (Photo by Linus Enriquez/Flickr)

Imagine if there were a bourbon version of “The Voice” or “America’s Got Talent.” That’s sort of what’s happening with the recently announced World’s Top Whiskey Taster competition.

The promotion is being driven by Bardstown Bourbon Company and Louisville-based Moonshine University. The ultimate winner of the competition will earn a grand prize of $20,000, a scholarship to Moonshine University’s Executive Bourbon Steward program and a role as a distillery ambassador for Bardstown Bourbon Company in 2021.

Essentially, anyone who considers themselves knowledgeable about bourbon can submit a one-minute video via YouTube, Instagram or Facebook, using the hashtag #WorldsTopWhiskeyTaster, that showcases “passion for bourbon, interest in an ambassadorship and palate prowess,” according to the contest’s official announcement.

Up to 10 submissions per market will then be chosen to compete in “sensory challenges” at prominent bourbon bars in Louisville, Nashville, Indianapolis and six other cities in June. One winner from each market will then compete for the title of World’s Top Whiskey Taster. The final event will take place sometime this fall at Bardstown Bourbon Company.

“Entrants are encouraged to be creative and have fun,” Bardstown Bourbon Company Vice President of Sales & Marketing Herb Heneman said in a news announcement. “Tell us what makes your palate as good as it is. Show us things like your favorite bourbon cocktail, your most impressive or underrated pairing, or pick the most amazing bottle in your stash and geek out on it. But most of all, tell us what representing Bardstown Bourbon Company as a Distillery Ambassador would mean to you.”

And unlike, say, a mixology competition, the World’s Top Whiskey Taster competition will be more nuanced.

“The challenges contestants will face at these live events will truly put their sensory expertise to the test,” Moonshine University’s Director of Spirits Education Colin Blake said. “This contest is — to my knowledge — the first to put contestants’ palates to work. The ‘World’s Top Whiskey Taster’ challenge will ask bourbon lovers to apply much of what we teach in our Executive Bourbon Steward training to practice.”

Entrants must be 21 years old and submissions will be open through June 15, 2020. Note: To enter, submit a video URL online to Bardstown Bourbon Company.