2024-2025 WHISKEY SEASON

The purpose of the Whiskey Tasting Season is to explore new whiskeys, expand palettes, and have a bit of fun learning about the different styles and types of whiskey throughout the world. There are way too many brands to try in one year, but over the course of many seasons we may explore the wonders of the still.   

Whiskeys are to be grouped into "Event" pods consisting of 6 bottles to be paired up randomly within that Event. Events will have judges will blind-taste pairings (seeded randomly) and score a winners in a small 6 whiskey bracket (theme nights should be anticipated). The tasting scores will be relative to the paired whiskey as in a true mano-a-mano matchup. The bracket would be double elimination culminating in a 1-6 ranking with an event score assigned to each whiskey.

The Winner of each event will automatically qualify for the Whiskey Playoff Semi-Finals.  The Runner-Up of each event will automatically qualify for the Whiskey Playoff Quarterfinals.  The remaining contestants will have a possibility to qualify for one of 11 wild-card slots.  

Wild-cards will be based on the highest event scores of the season among bottles finishing 3rd thru 6th in their respective events with the 7 highest wild-cards slotted into the Whiskey Playoff Quarterfinals and Whiskeys graded 8th thru 11th place matched up in a First-Four event to qualify for the last two spots of the playoff quarterfinals. 

• The season will begin with 30 total bottles (Selected via pre-season polling)
• 5 Regular Season Monthly Events (August, September, October, January, February)
• First-Four Event - 4 Whiskeys vie for 2 "play-in" spots (March)
• Quarterfinals - 14 Whiskeys seeded into 7 single-round pairings (April)
• Semifinals - 12 Whiskeys seeded into 6 single-round pairings (May)
• Whiskey Bowl II - 6 whiskeys Final Event Bracket (May or June)