Frequently Asked Questions
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| Questions about Scoring |
| Questions about Functionality |
| Questions about Registering |
| Questions about the Website |
Questions about Scoring |
| What goes into your "magic" overall rating? |
| Well... part of it really is magic. But here's the criteria that we try to build in. First, we take the annual average score from each rating institution and use that as a baseline... this varies a bit from year-to-year and from group to group. Then we give a little extra credit for scores that occur more recently. Next, we give a little extra credit for consistent scores over time. Then, we give a little credit or demerit if the bottle has been submitted to multiple judging institutions. In the end, we want to reward those distillers who are confident enough to systematically submit their liquor to as many institutions as possible. All this fits into the combined score to make it easier for you to make purchasing decisions. |
What is the Rabble Score? |
| The "rabble" is everyone who isn't an expert. It is the mass populace opinion about a given bottle and operates just like the familiar amazon.com ratings or other rating services. It gets updated by user reviews and is the collective's judgment. It factors equally with the professional ratings from (today) Wine Enthusiasts, Beverate Tasting Institute, and San Fancisco World Spirits Competition. The yearly average of Rabble scoring will help determine its contribution to the combined score. So, in short, you Mr. and Ms. Joe Public, are rabble. Be proud of that. And rate away. |
What makes you guys think you know so much? |
| We barely think we know anything!! And that's exactly the point. Most websites merely give you some blogger's opinion on some day or another. We don't do that. We use the scores from the pros and balance that against the mass-populace opinion. That's the gap we're trying to fill: help you make truly informed purchasing decisions. |
Why did you choose the judges that you did? |
| These guys are some of the biggest and best out there. They're also pretty good about making their reviews known publicly. Each of them, on their own, runs a pretty solid website that's worth visiting. Our goal-just like aggregating movie reviews-is to give you a good sense of where the given liquor has been and where it's going. There are other judges and competitions out there-and we report on those from time to time as they come to our attention. But these are three of the best and they make the backbone of our website and combined scoring system. |
Do you seriously expect me to believe you have every score from the judges here? |
| Nope... we do our best but we miss a few. Our first priority is to be current. We should have absolutely everything that has been rated since 2007. From there, we're working backwards as best we can. Right now, our plan is to go no further back than 2004. If you believe we've missed a score, please let us know. |
Why aren't these scores more consistent? |
| Weird, isn't? Here's something getting big marks one year from one guy and the very next year getting something way lower. Part of it is merely taste: judges tastes are variable and, occasionally, fickle. That's why we try to reward consistency. But the liquor itself could be a bit inconsistent: different water, different ingredients, new master distiller... who knows? Another reason we reward consistency. |
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Questions about Functionality |
This thing's a bitch to load on my iPhone... why didn't you make this mobile friendly? |
| Hey, look, we want that too! But we just founded in the fall of 2008 and we're just getting started. This is right up there with our top priorities because we know you don't haul your laptop to the liquor store. And this is all pretty expensive stuff. You can always help us out with that problem right here. |
Hey... I want to buy something. Where my shopping cart and "buy now" link? |
| Sadly, we're not licensed to sell this stuff. However, we're hoping to make some deals with distributors and stores very soon who would certainly like to encourage your patronage. Let us know where you'd like to buy and we'll certainly let them know about your wishes. |
What's the deal with these weird alerts? |
| This is an opportunity for you to receive updates about stuff you're especially interested. Specific types of liquor, particular flavors, particular distilleries... these are all things you can track automatically and we'll kick out alerts whenever they happen. |
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Questions about Registering |
| Why would do I need to register for an account in order to make a list? |
| Well, obviously we need to sort people out so that we can make sure you see your lists and not someone else's. You can receive anybody's recommendations or lists without an account but if you want to interact with those lists, I'm afraid you need a user ID. |
Why do you need my e-mail address? |
| We're not going to spam you! See our privacy statement here. The reason we use it is only if you yourself say that you want alerts about updates from specific distilleries or types of liquor. For example, if you have a favorite microdistillery and you want to know when they bust out with something new, we send an alert to the e-mail address you give us. |
Why do you need my snail mail address? |
| We're not going to bomb you with mail!! See our privacy statement here. We use the address as a quick litmus test to make sure the rabble score isn't being hijacked. But secondly, we anticipate being able to mail out offers such as coupons and events from specific vendors and want to give you that opportunity. Finally, if we know where our fans are, we're more likely to get special deals and events at a place near you! |
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Questions about the Website |
| Why isn't [insert your favorite bottle here] on your site? |
| Could be it's been judged but we haven't gotten to it yet. We're trying!! Check the rating websites themselves. It could be it was judged but was judged prior to 2004. It could be that the distillery decided not to submit it for judging, which isn't all that uncommon. We hope to help change that!! |
Are you guys non-profit or is "Big Liquor" able to buy you off? |
| Well, we hate to admit it, but if Bacardi strolls up and offers us all Porsches to write nice things about their new line of flavored rums, we're probably going to do it. But in reality, Proof66 is immune to this problem for precisely the reason that we're using professional judges. And we're using these particular sources because they taste blind and are impartial. So yeah, we take advertisements. And yeah, we'll sample and write about stuff that distributors provide us. We suppose our personal opinion's for sale (make us an offer!) but the scoring we report on is objective, impartial, and--with the rabble score--built by you, the user. Fear not! o conspiracy theorist. |
Your score is whack! [Insert your favorite bottle here] is way better! |
| It's America, baby! Disagree all you want. Do it by writing your own review and become part of the rabble score and then tell all your friends to register at the site and write their review (if they agree with you). |
I think you got something wrong... why don't you fix it? |
| We try really, really hard to be accurate. But even we catch mistakes every now and then. Please let us know and we'll fix it right away. |
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