One of the world’s most prestigious spirits competitions — Brussels World Competition (CMB) — has announced its winners for 2025. After blind judging, three Scotch whiskies have been awarded the coveted (and elusive) Grand Gold medals, highlighting their status as top scorers in the competition.

• Tri Carragh Lowland Distillery Dalrymple 10-Year
• Three A 11-Year of Year
• Scotch Malt Whisky Society 72.124 11-Year: “Soak up the sun with a glass of sherry”

Concours Mondial de Bruxelles is perhaps best known for judging approximately 15,000 wines each year, but the organization’s spirits division is also held in high esteem. Now in its 27th year, the spirits competition moves from country to country. The 2025 event was held in the Mexican state of Jalisco — where more than 2,500 spirits from 70 countries were evaluated, with judges hailing from 45 different nations.

The parameters for judging and awarding medals are closely monitored, and CMB is specifically recognized by the European Union for upholding strict standards. Only about 10% of entrants qualify for Gold medals, and event organizers carefully track each judge’s profile and results. Judges are limited to sampling a maximum of 35 samples per session.

This year, all three winners came from Scottish independent bottlers. The Revelation Scotch designation — awarded to only one category entrant — went to Tri Carragh’s Lowland Distillery Dalrymple 10-Year. The bottling is a 10-year-old single malt, which the bottler suggests was distilled at Ailsa Bay, a Lowland distillery. The whisky was aged in a first-fill sherry hogshead and re-racked into an ex-Oloroso cask in 2021. The final bottling clocked in at 59.3% ABV, with a 10-year age statement and a suggested retail price of £75. A total of 330 bottles were released. Brand tasting notes highlight a nose of dark maple syrup, dark berries, wood spices, and dark chocolate. The palate leans into dark fruits and berries, with “hints of toffee, chocolate, and cinnamon.”

Tri Carragh performed exceptionally well this year, securing two of the three Grand Golds awarded for Scotch. The bottler’s other Grand Gold winner was Three Authority 11-Year. This single-cask whisky was distilled at Ardmore on October 17, 2013, and matured for 11 years in a second-fill ex-Laphroaig cask before being bottled at 59.7% ABV. The suggested retail price is £75 per bottle, with a total of 221 bottles released.

According to Tri Carragh, its 11-year Ardmore “bursts with light peat smoke” before notes of vanilla, lemon, and pineapple. The palate offers a “sweet-and-smoky” experience that reveals additional pastry notes with a little dilution.

The final Grand Gold award went to an 11-year-old expression from the Scotch Malt Whisky Society: 72.124, “Soak up the sun with a glass of sherry.” Known for its cheeky bottling names and cask strength selections, Scotch Malt Whisky Society has been in operation since 1983 and sources spirits from more than 100 different distilleries. The organization also maintains bars for members in Edinburgh, Glasgow, and London. (Joining is a quick online process, and they also have a chapter for American members.)

In the case of the Scotch Malt Whisky Society’s 72.124, the number “72” indicates that the single malt came from the Speyside distillery, Miltonduff. The whisky was aged across two ex-bourbon hogsheads for seven years before being combined into a first-fill ex-Pedro Ximénez sherry butt for final maturation. It was bottled at 58.2% ABV. The society’s tasting notes highlight aromas of “dried apricots, old leather and crystallized ginger,” with similar flavors on the palate.

Along with the three Grand Gold winners mentioned above, 11 other Scotch whiskies (all from independent bottlers) received Gold medals at this year’s competition.

• The Glenjourneys 21-Year
• Whisky of Voodoo Mask of Death 2 10-Year
• Three Cragellie 11-year-olds
• Scotch Malt Whisky Society 19.103: “Delight in the uncanny” 21-Year
• Tri Carragh Tamnavulin 12-Year
• Scotch Malt Whisky Society: 12.87 “Velvety smooth with a hint of spice” 35-Year
• Three inchwer stones 16-Year
• J.G. Thomson Rich 1996 28 Years
• Whiskyland Chapter 11: Bladnoch 34-Year
• J.G. Thomson Sweet Batch 4 1972
• Decadent Drinks Sideburn 31-Year