There are now as many whisky competitions as there are whisky shows.

With a whirlwind of titles like the IWS, IWSC, ISC, IWCS, WWA etc., it's more akin to Monty Python's 'Peoples' Front of Judea' sketch.

One recent competition had a mere 265 medal winners for whisky alone.

We don't bother anymore. We recently won a gold medal for Design & Packaging at one of them, I forget which, despite not entering; and Bruichladdich Eighteen just won a gold but I can't remember where.  Perhaps that's the point. They all merge in to one with the grandiose words World, Whisky, International, Spirit and Spirit in the title. There is now even a women-only spirits competition though I can't recall if that is for spirits distilled by, judged by, or designated for women.

These events, masquerading as consumer advice, are an out and out revenue earner for the associated magazine behind the event. With each entry being between £100 and £250, the bigger companies flood the entries with a pallet loads of samples to ensure winning something. Then there is the prize award Gala Dinner for 500 industry guests with tickets costing up to £400 per person. And then the vanity advertising revenue, a mere lucrative bonus. 

Competitions and festivals are sprouting up everywhere - they are big money - and sums that are eagerly paid by a crazed industry addicted to squandering vast amounts for more worthless medals than an African despot.

It's got to stop.