Fife distillery’s liqueur named the best in Scotland

Great Taste reached its grand finale for 2020, with the Great Taste Golden Fork from Scotland presented to Tayport Distillery for its 1992 Raspberry Liqueur.

The distillery produces its liqueurs from scratch, making the most of Fife’s fresh fruit. Bringing back memories of freshly picked raspberries and red fruit pastilles for the Great Taste judges, this versatile liqueur was described as “jammy and unctuous, with a finish just long enough to keep your attention and make you want to go back for more”.

Having impressed at every stage of the blind-tasted judging process – as a record-breaking 12,777 entries were assessed over 14 weeks of remote judging and socially distanced judging sessions – the “delicious, fun and well-made” 1992 Raspberry Liqueur was celebrated as the best tasting product in Scotland during the virtual Great Taste Golden Fork award ceremony.

Taking place across the Guild of Fine Food’s social media channels and website, the online event brought together food lovers, producers, retailers, buyers and chefs to discover this year’s stars of food and drink, providing a vital boost for the industry.

Held later in the year than usual, after the lockdown interrupted judging just one week into the schedule, the Golden Fork trophy announcements are the final instalment in a Great Taste calendar that has been reinvented at every stage, in order to stimulate much-needed consumer support for independent retail and hospitality over the challenging months ahead.

This year’s panel of judges included; cook, writer and champion of sustainable food, Melissa Hemsley, cook, writer, stylist and voice of modern vegetarian cooking, Anna Jones, celebrated Spanish chef, José Pizarro, Kavi Thakrar from Dishoom, food writer and cook, Xanthe Clay, and baker and author, Martha Collison, as well as food buyers from Selfridges, Fortnum & Mason and Waitrose.

These esteemed palates tasted and re-judged the three-star winners to finally agree on the Golden Fork trophy winners and the Great Taste 2020 Supreme Champion.

Also nominated for this year’s Golden Fork from Scotland were the Great Taste three-star winners; Sarah Gray’s Raspberry Jam from Sarah Gray’s in Carmyllie, Angus and Pea Green Boat Cheese Sablés - Fennel and Chilli from Shortbread House of Edinburgh in Edinburgh.

Entries were sent in from 106 different countries, including Estonia, Greece, Italy, Japan, Latvia, Madagascar, the Philippines, Portugal, Singapore, Spain, Switzerland, the USA and Vietnam