Judging · 2026 · Candy & Fruit
The Winter Classic
Every entry I'm judging in the Candy and Fruit bracket, reviewed blind on my own card. Each box fills in with my score as the review goes up.
My entries
11 of 15 reviewed
Candy 5 of 7
Fruit 6 of 8
The Winter Classic: judges, format and results →
The reviews
F8
The Winter ClassicF8 had a bright, soft fruit nose in the jar, a cereal like Crunch Berries and Apple Jacks cinnamon apple with lime that stays close to the…
F7
The Winter ClassicF7 was a sweet funky fruit in the jar, quiet and rindish, and it never opened up enough to carry the flavor. The first pulls had a bad bur…
C5
The Winter ClassicI marked this one meh at the jar, and it came out as the most uninteresting option in the bundle other than C2. The nose is a soft, creamy…
F6
The Winter ClassicThis was my first interesting pick, a fruit entry with a fish tank, chem forward funk that stays close to the jar and carries over to the …
F2
The Winter ClassicI really liked this one, not the best still had small things to fix like the ash colour and the grass note; but I was surprised by this on…
F4
The Winter ClassicWeak spot: Taste 3.3
The flavor disappointed me a lot, especially for a fruit entry, and I barely got any fruit. The nose was interesting and sharp but so weak…
C3
The Winter ClassicA different nose from what I'm used to in most candies. It leads Parm and cheese with a sweet garlic funk, and breaking it up brings back …
F3
The Winter ClassicWeak spot: Taste 2.6
The nose is the best part of this one. It opens from a sweet tea and hay bale ride into bright berry and a really nice sinus opening once …
C6
The Winter ClassicWeak spot: Taste 2.4
If this wasn’t a competition i would’ve stopped half way. It’s not combusting fully; there’s still so much room for improvement for this s…
C2
The Winter ClassicWeak spots: Nose 5.2, Taste 5.9
Definitely not a winner. The jar and the grind both smelled like very little, and the nose built up in the grinder, then lost all of it on…
C1
The Winter ClassicThe look and the first sniff both undersell this one. the nose didn't announce itself until I broke it down, then it opened into a tropic…
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