1. Definitions and Interpretation
1.1. In these Rules unless the context otherwise permits, the following words shall have the following meaning:
“Classes” means Gold, Silver and Bronze;
“Competition” means the annual World Spirits Awards held by Presti;
“Competition Platform” means the platform accessible at https://www.worldspiritsawards.org;
“WSA” means the World Spirits Awards;
“Presti” means Presti Group Limited, is a company registered in Hong Kong under company number 1888778.
“WSA Warehouse” means the WSA Logistic Partner’s warehouse.
“Entrant” means the producer, importer, distributer or retailer who submitted an Entry; “Entry” means the Spirits entered into the Competition by Entrant;
“Entry Fee” means the fee for submitting an Entry for the Competition, as set out in ‘Key dates and prices’;
“Entry Form” means the entry form for the Competition to be completed via the Competition Platform;
“Rules” means these rules of entry;
“Website” means https://www.worldspiritsawards.org
1.2. In these Rules where appropriate: words denoting the masculine gender include the feminine and neuter genders and vice versa; words denoting a singular number include the plural and vice versa; references to the definite article shall include the indefinite article and vice versa; references to persons shall include firms, companies and other organisations and vice versa; reference to a statutory provision includes a reference to the same as modified, re-enacted or both from time to time and any subordinate legislation made under the same; headings shall not affect interpretation; and words such as “include” or “including” are to be construed without limiting the generality of the preceding words.
2. Entering the Competition
2.1. Entrant can enter the Competition by submitting an Entry Form on the Competition Platform, paying the Entry Fee and delivering the Entry to WSA in accordance with Clause 6 (Delivery, Risk and Title). Entries that do not arrive by the delivery deadline cannot be refunded or credited.
2.2. The Entry Form must be completed online by creating an account or logging in to an existing account on the Competition Platform. WSA accepts no responsibility for Entry Forms unsuccessfully submitted.
2.3. Each Entrant is responsible for submitting their Entries online via the Competition Platform, or using the paper entry forms. Entries submitted outside our online platform are subject to an increased Entry Fee.
2.4. Where the same Entry is submitted by more than one Entrant, each of Entrants’ stockists’ details will be featured equally in the report of the tasting. Entry Fees for multiple entries will not be refunded.
2.5. By submitting an Entry to the Competition, Entrant agrees to be bound by these Rules.
3. Criteria for Entries
3.1. Entries must:
3.1.1. produced by the distillation of grains, fruits, vegetables, or sugar that have already gone through alcoholic fermentation;
3.1.2. not contain any illegal additives in any form, such as hemp or cannabis, whether used as standalone ingredients or within blends or spices;
3.1.3. have a minimum production quantity of 450 liters (50 cases);
3.1.4. be finished and in their final container; and not be tank samples
3.1.5. be sealed with the same closure as the final, commercially available spirits;
3.1.6. be contained in a bottle of 750ml, 700ml, 500ml, or another appropriate size.
3.1.7. be labelled in accordance including (i) the geographical area of origin; (ii) the product category; (iii) name of producer; (iv) the nominal volume; (v) actual alcoholic strength; and (vi) a Lot number.
3.2. If the front and back labels for the Entry are not available at the time of entry, temporary labels must be applied to the final container bearing the following information: (i) name of producer; (ii) name of brand owner (where applicable); (iii) name of spirits; (iv) age (where applicable); (v) country of origin; (vi) region of origin (where applicable); (vii) bottle size; (viii) alcoholic strength; and (ix) Lot number.
3.3. Entries may be produced entirely in one country and then bottled in another. Any spirits that is produced for commercial availability anywhere in the world can enter.
3.4. There is no limit to the number of entries which may be submitted by an Entrant.
3.5. In the event that Entrant is not the producer of the Entries, Entrant warrants that it has all necessary consents and permissions to enter the Entry into the Competition. Entrant will indemnify WSA for any claims which arise as a result of Entrant submitting an Entry which it does not have the authority to submit.
4. Retail Pricing
4.1. Retail prices are taken into consideration when judging the Entries. The retail price band must be per bottle, not case of 6 or 12.
4.2. The retail price band per bottle quoted at the time of entry must accurately represent the Entry’s predicted retail price and not a discounted or promotional price and must be valid for 6 months after publication of the Competition results.
4.3. Any major discrepancies between the retail price per bottle quoted at the time of entry and the eventual retail price, except for factors outside of Entrant’s control (including tax and duty), may result in the Entry’s medal being withdrawn, and future participation in the Competition may be prohibited.
5. Payment
5.1. The Entry Fee may be paid online by credit or debit card at the time of submitting the Entry Form via the Competition Platform.
5.2. The Entry Fee may also be paid by cheque or bank transfer in accordance with the payment instructions contained in the invoice made available for download after submission of the Entry Form via the Competition Platform. Additional fees apply to payment by cheque or bank transfer. Entrants must bear all applicable bank charges for remittance (if any).
5.3. The deadline for payment of the Entry Fee is indicated on the Website. An Entry will not be included in the Competition where the Entry Fee has not been received by WSA by the deadline.
5.4. No refund or credit of an Entry Fee will be given in any circumstances, including circumstances in which an Entry is disqualified, withdrawn, lost or damaged or does not arrive in time.
6. Delivery, Risk and Title
6.1. Two (2) or more samples of each Entry must be submitted to WSA in accordance with these Rules.
2 bottles per entry (700ml x 2 or 750ml x 2) or 3 bottles per entry (500ml x 3), totaling a minimum of 1400mL per entry.
6.2. It is Entrant’s responsibility to ensure that the Entries are delivered to WSA in accordance with the deadlines detailed on the Website.
6.3. Entrant may deliver the Entries:
directly to the WSA Warehouse;
6.4. Entries that arrive after the deadline dates or that are delivered to the WSA Warehouse will not be accepted.
6.5. It is Entrant’s responsibility to contact the Shipping Agent or its courier company to confirm the delivery deadline, address and documentation required.
6.6. Entrant will be responsible for payment of all delivery charges, duties, taxes, insurances and storage. All such charges must be paid by Entrant in advance of receipt of the Entry by WSA.
6.7. Entries must be Delivered Duty Paid (DDP). Instructions to complete the import declaration should be given to Entrant’s forwarder/courier company by Entrant. Entrant must choose ‘shipper accept all charges’ on the documentation provided by Entrant’s courier company. Entries cannot be accepted by our Logistic Partner if the charges associated with shipping have not been paid. Any penalties and additional costs incurred due to non-compliance with local declaration requirements shall be borne by the Entrant.
6.8. It is Entrant’s responsibility to ensure that Entries arrive in good condition.
6.9. Entrant must complete and affix the delivery label, which can be downloaded by Entrant in its online account after submission of the Entry Form (or sent to Entrant via email by the WSA team), on the outside of the box. Entrant must indicate the name of its company and the Entry on the outside of the box to assist the WSA Logistic Partner in correctly identifying the Entry when it arrives.
6.10. Entrant will receive an automated email confirmation when all samples for all its Entries have been received at the WSA Warehouse and checked by WSA.
6.11. WSA will notify Entrant in case of discrepancies between the Entry received and the Entry in Entrant’s online account. If WSA does not hear from Entrant within the deadline, WSA will use the information on the Entry label on the bottles received by WSA and update the Entry in the WSA system accordingly. Once the Entries are judged, no changes can be made to the Entry details.
6.12. Hand delivery is only available to Entrants where their Entry is submitted, and only registered Entries will be accepted by WSA.
6.13. The Entries will be transported at Entrant’s risk and it will be Entrant’s responsibility to arrange adequate insurance. WSA and the Logistic Partner will not be liable for any loss or damage to the Entries whatsoever whilst the Entries are in the possession of Entrant, the Shipping Agent, or at any stage during the delivery process.
6.14. Title (i.e. ownership) of the Entries will pass to WSA upon receipt of the Entry to the WSA Warehouse.
6.15. Refunds will not be issued after the Delivery deadline for any cancellations, late deliveries, or non- deliveries.
6.16. Upon completion of the Competition, any unopened Entries will be destroyed or sold to raise money for charities selected by WSA. Leftover Entries will not be returned or available for collection.
7. The Competition
7.1. Entries are organised for tasting by country, region, category, age, style, and price, to ensure that spirits are judged in flights against their peers.
7.2. The Entries will be judged by blind tasting by a panel of judges.
7.3. All Gold medal winning entries will be re-tasted, and the ‘World’s Best’ medals (such as ‘World’s Best Gin’ and ‘World’s Best Cognac’) will be awarded to the best among the Gold medal winning entries in each respective category.
7.4. The judges’ decisions will be final and will not be open to challenge.
7.5. Entrants will not have any involvement in the appointment of the judges.
8. Winners
8.1. Entrants will be emailed to inform them when the results of the Competition are available via their online account. Entrants will only be able to view the results for their Entry until the full results are made public.
8.2. The winning Entries in all Classes will be published on completion of each Competition and winning Entrants acknowledge and agree that WSA may publish details and particulars of the winning Entries.
8.3. All the winning spirits will be published on our website, https://www.worldspiritsawards.org , and in a digital edition of the World Spirits Awards. All winning Entries will be published according to WSA’s format which is ‘Brand, Spirit Name, Age, Region, Country’. ‘Brand Name’ and ‘Spirit Name’ may therefore be changed from that originally submitted by Entrant in order to ensure that WSA’s records reflect the information displayed on the Entry’s front label allowing for easy identification by consumers.
8.4. Winning Entrants agree that they will take part in any publicity which is reasonably required by WSA.
8.5. Entrants agree that WSA may photograph and reproduce photographs of Entrants and/or winning Entries.
9. Promoting winning Entries
9.1. Winning Entrants will be sent full details of how they can promote medal-winning Entries, including through Bottle Stickers and other point-of-sale material.
9.2. The WSA word marks and logos (including the medals) are the property of Presti Group Limited and any use of such marks by winning Entrants is under license. Any unauthorised use, reproduction or alteration is strictly prohibited.
9.3. Winning Entrants may only use the WSA logos on their printed and digital marketing material to publicise their winning Entries. The WSA logos may not be used on bottles without prior written authorisation from WSA.
9.4. Winning Entrants may purchase Bottle Stickers to promote their winning Entries. Bottle Stickers may only be purchased and used by winning Entrants.
9.5. Entrants agree that they will only use WSA’s name, logo and Bottle Stickers to promote specific winning Entries and not to promote their whole range. Only the winning Entries may be promoted as winners of the Competition.
9.6. Medals may only be displayed against, and Bottle Stickers may only be affixed to, winning Entries of the appropriate medal and correct spirits from the relevant awarding year of the Competition. Furthermore, such spirits must adhere to the same criteria (for example, Alcohol, Age etc.) as those selected for the Entry on the online Competition Platform.
9.7. If your Entry has multiple labels and/or names (eg. for use in different sales markets), notice must be sent to hi@worldspiritsawards.org and permission received to use the result and any associated medals for such spirits. Such permission must be sought prior to the judging week. Permission will not be given to use an Entry’s result in such a way after the commencement of the judging week.
9.8. Entrants must at all times comply with the Brand Guidelines, and any instructions provided by WSA from time to time, when using WSA’s name, logos and Bottle Stickers.
9.9. When publicising their award, winning Entrants must always state the year in which it was won. No changes can be made to the name and details of the winning Entry after close of the Competition.
9.10. Winning Entrants will be able to download their certificates via their online account.
9.11. WSA reserves the right to revoke the rights granted under these Rules at any time upon 14 days’ notice.
9.12. Unauthorised use, reproduction or alteration of the WSA word marks, logos, medals and Bottle Stickers may result in the medal being withdrawn and future participation in the Competition may be prohibited.
10. General
10.1. If any part of these Rules is held by a court of competent jurisdiction to be unenforceable, the validity of the remainder of these Rules will not be affected.
10.2. A person who is not a party to these Rules has no right under the Contracts to enforce any term of these Rules but this does not affect any right or remedy of a third party which exists or is available apart from that Act.
10.3. Nothing in these Rules shall be construed as creating a partnership, joint venture or agency relationship between Entrant and WSA.
10.4. No waiver by WSA of a breach of any provision of these Rules shall be considered to be a waiver of any prior or subsequent breach of the same or any other provisions and no waiver shall be implied by WSA taking or failing to take any other action.
10.5. In the event that for reasons beyond the reasonable control of WSA, it is necessary or advisable for the Competition to be cancelled, WSA cannot accept any liability whatsoever for any direct or indirect loss of profit, damage or expense of any kind incurred as the result of such a cancellation.
10.6. WSA may vary these Rules at any time without notice to Entrants. Any revision of these Rules will be placed on the Website without notice to Entrants. In the event that Entrant does not agree to be bound by any amended Rules, they must withdraw from the Competition.
10.7. Any personal information, including Entrant’s name, age, address (including post code), email address and any other information submitted by Entrant on the Entry Form, will be used by WSA in accordance with its privacy policy available at https://www.worldspiritsawards.org/privacy-policy/
10.8. If there is any reason to believe that there has been a breach of these Rules, WSA may, at its sole discretion, reserve the right to exclude Entrant from participating in the Competition.
10.9. Any notice given under these Rules shall be in writing and in English and signed by or on behalf of the party giving it and shall be served by hand or by sending it by prepaid first class recorded delivery (including special delivery) or first class registered post or, in the case of an address for service outside the Hong Kong, prepaid international recorded airmail, in each case to the address and for the attention of the relevant party set out in the Entry Form or these Rules (or as otherwise notified by that party under this clause). Any notice shall be deemed to have been received if hand delivered or sent by prepaid first class recorded or registered post or prepaid international recorded airmail, at the time of delivery.
10.10. WSA reserves the right to cancel the Competition at any stage, and for any reason, including for circumstances which are outside of WSA‘s control.
10.11. These Rules shall be governed by the laws of Hong Kong and any dispute shall be subject to the exclusive jurisdiction of the Hong Kong courts.