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By Alberto Espinola
The Mexican spirit Raicilla and spirits without alcohol will be two of many highlighted categories at the Spirits Selection by Concours Mondial de Bruxelles, an international event that will be held in Jalisco, Mexico from September 7 to 12, 2025.
We spoke with Carlos Armando Borboa Suárez, director for North America and Latin America of the Mondial de Bruxelles competition and director of Mexico Spirits Selection by CMB.
Carlos Armando Borboa Suárez
Carlos, why was Jalisco chosen for Spirits Selection by CMB?
When we receive applications from venues, which are generally public initiatives, i.e., governments, we analyze which region has the capacity to host an event of this magnitude, as it is an international event involving a large number of people and requiring a great deal of organizational detail and capacity to showcase the categorization of a specific product. With this in mind, Mexico is one of the countries with the richest heritage of distilled and spirit beverages, so when Jalisco's bid was received, it was easy to decide that it had the structural capacity to host an event of this magnitude, in addition to having two types of spirit beverages with a designation of origin of international interest, tequila and raicilla.
Naturally, tequila, mezcal, and raicilla will be represented in the competition, but what other spirits produced in Mexico do you expect to be part of the competition?
All spirits produced in Mexico will be there. I am sure we will have a large participation from all producers, with highlights around tequila and raicilla. This year, the 27th edition of the Spirits Selection by CBM, we expect more than 2,800 samples from around the world, including whiskeys, cognacs, brandies, rums, vodkas, gins, piscos, grappas, baijius, tequilas, etc.
Is there any underrepresented Mexican spirit that you would like to see play a more important role in the competition?
Internationally, all of Mexico is always in fashion. Tequila has gained significant worldwide recognition in recent decades. It is a Mexican product, the national brand most identified around the world, with many exponents who have won major international awards. However, without a doubt, raicilla will become the great product to be discovered internationally.
Raicilla is a spirit with a lot of structure, very similar to mezcal. It is produced with different varieties of agave in specific mountain and coastal regions. Its production is not empirical and disorganized; on the contrary, it is technically very precise.
Of the rest of the spirits produced in Mexico -- not to mention the mezcals from the towns of Oaxaca or the Mexican highlands -- sotol is now popular throughout the United States and Europe as a high-end drink, even associated with artists and public figures. And, of course, bacanora, produced in Sonora, is gaining momentum as a very artisanal distillate with a unique origin that sets it apart from other products made in Mexico.
This productive universe shines all the time because the world knows that in Mexico we know how to do things well and we have high-quality, very artisanal spirits that convey their origin in their aromas and flavors, made with a wide variety of wild and domesticated agaves that we have in our country.
The readers of our magazine are owners of Mexican restaurants in the United States. How does this competition benefit them?
I'm glad you mentioned that, because that's the key to the Mondial de Bruxelles competition. It's an event that brings together experts and opinion leaders from around the world for three days, many of whom are sommeliers, producers, representatives of producing regions, or distillers, as well as many distributors, importers, restaurateurs, and people who work with these beverages all the time.
The aim is to find the best products in terms of aromatic expression and taste, with a very basic end goal: to help the end consumer make a purchasing decision when they reach the supermarket shelf and see 50 different labels of tequilas, whiskeys, and vodkas. They will then be able to make the best choice by identifying a Mondial de Bruxelles medal affixed to the bottle, which means that the product has undergone a rigorous evaluation by a group of experts, guaranteeing that it offers good value for money. It is therefore a quality guide for the end consumer.
The competition is an international organization. We work in more than 56 countries and have a long and prestigious history in Europe, Latin America, and Asia. Many buyers from large restaurant chains and supermarkets base their purchasing decisions on the list of winners of the Mondial de Bruxelles competition because they know they won't go wrong and will get the best value for money, that they will meet technical standards in their cocktails, drinks, or wine lists, and they will have the opportunity to discover beverages that they would not have discovered if we had not found them.
Do you think the competition will make it easier for our readers to choose the spirits they will stock in their bars?
The website www.spiritsselection.com lists all the internationally awarded products, including their medals, origin, alcohol content, categorization, and most importantly, the commercial contacts so that any restaurateur or enthusiast can find a drink and contact the producer directly to make a purchase. For many, it is a very important tool for opening up the market to importers and distributors who see our results lists and, based on that, make decisions about new exports and imports. What we do is networking that generates business for the end consumer.
How does the competition benefit the host region, in this case Jalisco?
Jalisco will see a return on organizing this major event in three ways:
- A line of communication will be created through media coverage, positioning the region above all before experts, specialists, and fans of spirits as a productive hub that they have to visit.
- It will have a significant economic impact as an international event, since it will receive large numbers of visitors, such as specialists, producers, consumers, and the media, to name a few.
- In terms of marketing, the most important thing for the state of Jalisco and for us is that this event will boost the tequila and raicilla industry, with purchases not only in Mexico but also around the world, backed by our panel of experts in the sector and buyers who will take these products and introduce them to markets in the United States, South America, Europe, and Asia.
The competition allows us to showcase Mexico to the world, specifically Jalisco as a great organizer of international events, giving prestige to the designations of origin, both raicilla and tequila, but also to its gastronomy, artistic culture, architectural heritage, and, of course, its tourism.
Data shows that people are drinking less alcohol in recent years. Is this trend worrying? Do you think it will slow down the growth of the spirits industry?
Of course, people used to like going out and enjoying a glass of wine, an alcoholic beverage, a cocktail, or a spirit. However, there is currently an international crisis. The younger generations do not want to drink alcohol. Young people want to go out and enjoy themselves, drink things other than alcoholic beverages, and are concerned about their health. The industry's response is to offer alcohol-free drinks. It is clear that there is concern about this contraction in the international wine and spirits markets, and the industry is producing distilled spirits, spirits, wines, and ready-made cocktails without alcohol to offer an alternative to new consumers.
Since 2023, Spirits Selection has had a section specifically for evaluating non-alcoholic products. I have personally led a commission and tasted various non-alcoholic products or products with very low alcohol content that are very interesting for the market and can be used to make cocktails. The same is true for wine, where it is interesting to see companies that are dedicated to marketing alcohol-free bottles and have developed new technologies to preserve the aromas, flavors, and textures of the products while completely eliminating alcohol. The same is true for the beer industry.
Of course, we are concerned about this situation because it is a market that will continue to shrink over the next few years, but investments have been made and we are prepared to make the right decisions at the right time to find these new products as alternatives for this emerging market that is looking for healthier drinks, to strike a balance between those who do drink and those who are looking for alcohol-free drinks. I would say that the market will remain like this for the next few years. Everyone in this industry knows this, which is why healthy alternatives will continue to grow in the industry. For us, it is exciting to discover these new beverages with incredible origins and sensory expressions.
Who can participate in this event?
Any distillery, national or international, that wants to send its products to compete can participate. The process is very simple: they must register through the website https://spiritsselection.com/es/ and send us their participating samples.
In terms of the tasting panel, the competition involves around 150 specialists from 46 countries who join us in evaluating the samples. The program of activities includes many visits, tours, and activities for enthusiasts and lovers of spirits in Guadalajara, Tequila, and Puerto Vallarta.
It is important to mention that the competition's tasting sessions are always held behind closed doors, because the judges need the right lighting, soundproofing, and no external aromas or noise in order to evaluate the products accurately. However, the states or regions that host us always organize events for the general public, which are published on the Jalisco State Government's social media accounts.
Is there anything else about the competition that you would like our readers to know?
Keep an eye out for the event. It is very important to us that restaurateurs, bartenders, mixologists, and people in the industry who serve drinks to consumers know about great cocktail bars and new trends in aromas and flavors, and that they stay in touch with us, as we are a highly respected international organization dedicated to recognizing and promoting spirits from around the world. We believe that this approach through el Restaurante magazine is very valuable, as well as through the social networks of the Mondial de Bruxelles competition, Spirits Selection by CMB, and of course the Jalisco State Ministry of Tourism, to find out everything that will be happening in September as part of this international event, through:
https://concoursmondial.com/es/
https://spiritsselection.com/es/
https://www.linkedin.com/company/concoursmondial/
https://www.facebook.com/SpiritsSelection
https://secturjal.jalisco.gob.mx/inicio
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