Usually, less than 5% of the submitted whiskies earns a gold medal. One pundit once commented that the MM Awards are nothing like the Olympics because we hand out more than one gold medal. Well, we do - but so do the judges at the Olympics; hundreds of them! Over the years (2003-'08) we've managed to sample well over 1,000 different whiskies and (until 2009) only 42 of them actually won a gold medal.
Just keep in mind: All whiskies in the competition are tasted completely blind - check out the Rules & Regulations page for more on that.
 

Adelphi 15yo 1991/2006 'Breath of Speyside' (60,2%, Adelphi, Cask #5642, 615 Bottles, Submitted 2006)
Ardbeg 21yo 'Committee' (56.3%, Official Bottling, Bottled 2001) - Islay Award of Excellence 2003
Balblair 1973/2006 (45%, G&M Private Collection, C#3184-3185, 385 Bts.) - Best Sherry Cask Award 2008 (Ultra Premium)
Benriach 28yo 1976/2005 (56.9%, Signatory, C#9442, 426 bottles) - Speyside Award of Excellence 2005
Benriach 37yo 1968/2006 (52%, OB, Hogshead #2712, 157 Bottles) - Supreme Peated Malt Award 2006
Blairfindy 24yo 1980/2004 (55.9%, Blackadder / Sun Favorite, C#5984) - Top Sherry Cask Award 2005
Brora 30yo '2002' (52.4%, Official Bottling, 3000 Btl., Bottled 2002) - Highlands Award of Excellence 2003
Brora 30yo '2003' (55.7%, Official Bottling, 3000 Btl., Bottled 2003) - Non Plus Ultra Award 2004
Brora 30yo '2005' (56.3%, Official Bottling, 3000 Btl., Bottled 2005) - Highlands Award of Excellence 2006
Carsebridge 42yo 1960/2002 (41.6%, Chieftain's Choice, Oloroso, C#15010, 135 Bts.)
Clynelish 32yo 1974/2006 (58,6%, The Whisky Fair, Bourbon Hogshead, 266 Bts.) - Supreme Bourbon Cask Award 2006
Glenfarclas 1969/2007 (56,2%, OB 'Familly Casks', Cask #3184, 148 Bts., Submitted 2007)
Glengoyne 15yo 1989/2005 'Duncan's Choice' (55.7%, OB, Sherry hogshead #1204, 350 bottles, Submitted 2005)
Glengoyne 19yo 1986/2005 'Ewan's Choice' (51.5%, OB, C#441) - Highlands Award of Excellence 2005
Glen Grant 1956/2005 (46%, G&M for La Maison du Whisky, Refill sherry butt, 459 Bts.) - Supreme Sherry Cask Award 2006
Glen Grant 1972/2006 (46%, Berry Brothers, Cask #1982, Submitted 2006)
Glen Grant 1972/2007 (54.9%, The Single Malts of Scotland, Submitted 2007)
Glen Grant 36yo 1970/2006 (53,2%, Blackadder, C#7216, 173 Bottles) - Supreme Sherry Cask Award 2007 (Ultra Premium)
Hanyu 1988/2006 (56,3%, Full Proof Holland, Pancheon / Puncheon C#9204, Submitted 2006)
Highland Park 36yo 1967/2004 (49.7%, OB for The Whisky Exchange, C#10252, 138 Bottles) - Islands Award of Excellence 2005
Inchgower 26yo 1980/2007 (59.8%, Adelphi, C#14155, 223 Bts.) - Non-Plus-Ultra Award 2008 (Premium)
Karuizawa 'Vintage' 1981/2007 (58.1%, OB, Cask #103) - Top Japanese Whisky for 2007
Karuizawa 1971/2008 (64.1%, OB for The Number One Drinks Company, C#6878) - Thumbs Up Award 2008 (Ultra Premium)
Lagavulin 21yo 1985/2007 (56.5%, OB, 6642 Bts.) - Non-Plus-Ultra Award 2008 (Ultra Premium)
Laphroaig 10yo 'Cask Strength' (55.7%, OB, Bottled +/- 2005) - Bang-For-Your-Buck Award 2005
Laphroaig 27yo 1980/2007 (57.4%, OB) - Non-Plus-Ultra Award 2007 (Ultra Premium)
Laphroaig 31yo 1974/2005 (49.7%, OB for La Maison du Whisky, Sherry, 910 bottles) - Non Plus Ultra Award 2005
Longmorn 1972 (45%, Gordon & MacPhail Licensed Bottling, Cask #1088, Submitted 2006)
Longmorn 36yo 1970/2006 (56,1%, The Whisky Exchange, Single Malts of Scotland, Sherry C#28, 255 Bts., Submitted 2006)
Longmorn 1964/2007 (50%, Gordon & MacPhail for La Maison du Whisky, Cask #1538, Submitted 2007)
Macallan 30yo 1976/2006 (45,3%, Adelphi, C#2749, 206 Bts.) - Speyside Award of Excellence 2006
Nikka 20yo 'Yoichi' (52%, OB, Bottled +/- 2006, Japan, Submitted 2006)
Port Ellen 21yo 1982/2004 (50%, Douglas Laing OMC, DL 414, 420 bottles) - Top Sherry Cask Award 2004
Port Ellen 23yo 1979/2003 (46%, Wilson & Morgan, C#6769, Bottled 2003) - Islay Award of Excellence 2004
Speyside 41yo 1965/2007 (53,5%, The Whisky Fair, Sherry, 150 Bts., Submitted 2007)
Springbank 35yo 1971/2007 (59%, The Whisky Fair, Sherry, 239 Bts., Submitted 2007)
Springbank 36yo 1970/2006 (53,1%, Signatory, Sherry C#1629, 461 Bts.) - Campbeltown Award of Excellence 2006
Talisker 20yo 1981/2002 Natural Cask Strength (62%, OB, Sherry, 9000 Bottles) - Non Plus Ultra Award 2003, etc.)
The Whisky Fair Single Speyside Malt 35yo 1971/2006 (51,4%, The Whisky Fair, Sherry butt, 534 Bts., Submitted 2006)
Tobermory 34yo 1972/2007 (49,5%, Whisky-Doris, First Fill dark sherry cask, 96 Bts., Submitted 2007)
Yamazaki 1984/2005 (56%, Suntory Official Bottling, Japan, 70cl) - Non-Plus-Ultra Award 2006
Yamazaki 25yo (43%, Suntory OB, Bottled +/- 2006, Japan, 75cl) - Global Village Award 2006 
 

These gold medal winners are 'the cream of the crop' - the very best of the bottles that were submitted to our competition.
 
Due to the harsh conditions of the awards, the chances winning a gold medal are quite slim; the silver medal winners are nothing to be scoffed at either. Some of them received five of six votes for gold, so chances are you'll enjoy those quite a bit as well. Otherwise, check out the MaltMenu (tasting notes and 'thumbs up or down' advice about some 250 official bottlings), the Specials section (noteworthy recent independent releases and single casks), the matrix (over 3,000 whiskies that were sampled by four or more maniacs) and the monitor (our scores for over 10,000 different whiskies). Check out Malt Maniacs & Friends on Facebook for discussions on whisky.

Winning a gold medal in the Malt Maniacs Awards is no easy task. We hand out our
medals on the basis of an average score that's determined by the individual scores
of a dozen or more jury members. In order to win a gold medal, at least half of the
jury needs to be convinced that a whisky deserves a score of 90 points or more.