The Trophy Spirits Show

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Judges 2023

Michael Fridjhon is the convenor of the Trophy Spirits Show and is responsible for selecting the judges and managing the judging process. All judges are suitable experienced spirits judges, with at least one member of every panel a recognised international authority.

As with The Trophy Wine Show, associate judges are drawn from the local spirits industry, some of whom are graduates of the Spirits Judging Academy launched in 2021. Associate judges participate in the tasting and post-judging discussion, though their scores are not included in the final tally.

Show Chairman

Michael Fridjhon
Michael Fridjhon

International Judges

Jérôme Royer
George Harper
Jon Gray

South African Judges

Dave Gunns
Mare-Loe Prinsloo
Kurt Schlechter
Carla Weightman
Carla Weightman
Pieter Carter
Andy Watts

Judges

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Michael Fridjhon

Michael Fridjhon

Show Chairman

Author, co-author and contributor to a number of wine books including The Oxford Companion to Wine, The Global Wine Encyclopaedia, and Platter’s South African Wine Guide. Recipient of the Chevalier de l’Ordre du Merite Agricole (France). First international co-chairman of the International Wine Challenge (2007). Visiting Professor of Wine Business at the University of Cape Town’s Graduate School of Business and head of the Wine Judging Academy run in association with the University of Cape Town’s Graduate School of Business. Winner of the Louis Roederer International Wine Columnist of the Year award (2012).

Jérôme Royer

International Judge

President of the French Brandy Federation, on the tasting committee of the Bureau de Cognac and a member of the Appellation of Origin commission. Also a member of the plenary committee of the Bureau National Interprofessional du Cognac, a member of the Pineau committee and a member of the administrative board of the French Spirits Federation. Judge at competitions for Cognac-based cocktails in New York and taster at Cognac house Louis Royer. Judge at inaugural Trophy Spirits Show in 2019.

George Harper

International Judge

Whisky specialist at Diageo for the past seven years – one of 12 blenders responsible for all of Diageo’s Scotch and Irish Whisk(e)y portfolios and Master Blend for Roe & Co. Irish Whiskey. He has studied and worked in the drinks industry since 2006 and has a degree in Brewing and Distilling. Before joining Diageo, he was a flavour and sensory coordinator for the international brewing company Scottish and Newcastle and a brewer for an award-winning independent craft outfit in Edinburgh. The Trophy Spirits Show judge in 2022.

Jon Gray

International Judge

The Englishman spent several years honing his craft in the Canadian city of Toronto before returning to London as national brand ambassador and district sales manager for Beefeater Gin. Whereas company founder James Burrough was a chemist who spent much of his time understanding fruits, roots and alcohol, Gray gained his understanding of spirits and cocktails as a bartender and manager of events, training consultant, the host at tastings host and convenor of competitions. First-time judge at The Trophy Spirits Show.

Dave Gunns

South African Judge

A trip to Scotland provided the epiphany that set him on course to opening Wild About Whisky in 2006. Located in Dullstroom Mpumalanga, the bar has become one of the most famous whisky destinations in South Africa with over 1600 different malts as well as innumerable other spirits. An educator as well as a specialist retailer, he is widely regarded as one of the country’s foremost authorities on spirits. A judge at The Trophy Spirits Show since 2019.

Kurt Schlechter

South African Judge

Voted 75th among the world’s Top 100 most influential people by Drinks International magazine (2022), he has 25 years’ experience in the hospitality industry. Award-winning bartender and drinks consultant, co-owner and director of the Cause Effect Cocktail Kitchen and the Cape Brandy Bar in South Africa – the former currently ranked among the best bars in the world. Completed his Whisky Masters in Scotland, and after winning the first Olmeca Tahona Margarita Championship in Mexico, travelled back to the country several times to study agave spirits. His passion for spirits led him full circle back to Cape Town to promote local brandies and gins, completing the Van Ryn advanced brandy course. A passionate educator, specialising in developing bartender training programmes for some of the world’s leading liquor brands, training bartenders in the BAR STARS in Africa upliftment programme. Judge at The Trophy Spirits Show since 2021.

Carla Weightman

Carla Weightman

Local Judge

Currently a sensory specialist at Heineken Beverages’ (previously Distell’s) Intrinsic Centre of Excellence, she has been running the sensory laboratory and leading the tasting panels since 2018. Responsible for conducting sensory research across the company’s diverse product portfolio (RTDs, wines and spirits) on new as well as existing products. She holds a BSc in Food Science as well as an MSc and PhD in wine sensory science from the Institute for Wine Biotechnology at Stellenbosch University. Has judged at the South African Women’s Wine and Spirits Awards (LUMO) and the Vitis Vinifera awards since 2020. Assisted with training at Michael Fridjhon’s Spirit Judging Academy in 2021. Associate judge at The Trophy Spirits Show in 2023.

Pieter Carter

South African Judge

His career in gin began on joining Craft Link Distillery in 2016 to help build it and to develop the brands which followed. During the years that followed, he also set up a rum outfit and assisted with the creation of several other liquor businesses. In 2021 he left Craft Link to launch a business focussed on organic and innovative products, before starting work as a consultant on retail brand development, recipe refinement and the setting up of distilleries across Africa. Later, he was recruited to set up and manage a trust fund for the conservation of wildlife across Africa while creating products for the trust to help fund its activities. He remains involved in the liquor industry as a consultant, distiller and occasional judge.

Andy Watts

Local Judge

Owner of The Watts Whisky Company (Pty) Ltd and the first ambassador for the Whisky Vault in Johannesburg. Awarded the title of Global Icon ‘Master Distiller / Master Blender of the Year’ at the Whisky Magazine’s Icons of Whisky Awards in 2018, named Global Icon ‘World Whisky Brand Ambassador of the Year’ at the 2020 edition of the awards, and in 2021 he was honoured as the 70th inductee into the magazine’s Whisky Hall of Fame in acknowledgement of his lifelong contribution to the whisky industry and his role in establishing South Africa as part of the world whisky community. In 2024 he was appointed as an advisory board member for the Council of Whiskey Masters, an American-based organisation founded to define and uphold a new set of education standards among sommeliers and spirits professionals, offering credentials in the field of whisk(e)y that are equivalent to the well-established designations in the world of wine. Back in the 1980s, he worked at Auchentoshan, Glen Garioch and Bowmore before his appointment as manager of The James Sedgwick Distillery in Wellington. His many achievements include the first single malt produced in South Africa and the first 100% locally blended whisky (as part of the Three Ships portfolio), the country’s first single grain whisky (Bain’s Cape Mountain Whisky), as well as numerous titles over the years at the World Whiskies Awards. A judge at the inaugural Trophy Spirits Show in 2019 and again in 2022 and 2023.