Pick the Glenfiddich Five!

It’s the most prestigious solo piping event of the year, with the world’s most accomplished winners of vying for the title of Glenfiddich Champion 2017 and, with the splitting of hairs between virtuoso performances, it’s impossible to know how the overall prize-list will result.

But it’s good fun trying to predict the top-five aggregate finishers, so pipes|drums brings back our Predict the Glenfiddich Five, where you can submit your prediction for the final overall prize-list at this year’s Glenfiddich Invitational Solo Piping Championship.

The most accurate prediction will receive a terrific single prize: a brand new set of Twist-Trap Practice Pipes, valued at £395 / $650 from our friends at R.G. Hardie & Co.

The instrument was announced last week, so our winner will be among the first to receive the super-cool and fun prize. Here’s a pretty sweet video of R.G. Hardie Director Alistair Dunn and a few friends taking the Twist-Trap Practice Pipes for a spin:

And how exactly might you win this glorious prize package? Well, here are the rules, so please read carefully:

• Readers must submit their entry via e-mail – click here. (Please use the template automatically generated.)
• Entries must list the competitors in their aggregate order of finish – 1st, 2nd, 3rd, 4th, 5th.
• Only one entry per e-mail address and person (all multiple entries from the same e-mail address will be discarded; please don’t try to game the system).
• In the event of aggregate ties between piping competitors, the Piobaireachd event determines the winner.
• Submissions must include full postal address.
• The winning entry must pick the 2017 Glenfiddich Champion – the overall winner of the first-prize.
• Ideally, the winning entry will pick the exact prize-list in exact order of finish.
• If more than one entry gets the list exactly right, a random draw will be made.
• If no entry is completely correct, the submission that picks the first-prize winner and gains the most points from the following system will win: 3 points for choosing a piper in the right spot, and 1 point for including a piper who made the top-five aggregate prize list but not in the correct place.
• Entries close at 18:00 GMT, Friday, October 27th.
• Glenfiddich adjudicators, competitors, officials, the Duke of Atholl and the jukey’s dugs are not eligible to win.
• The winner will be notified by e-mail and a story will be published soon after. The winner’s name will be withheld, if desired.

As a reference, here in alphabetical order are the 10 pipers contending for the prizes at the 2017 Glenfiddich Championship. Readers are encouraged to browse pipes|drums for results from this year’s solo piping events from around the world.

• Callum Beaumont, Linlithgow, Scotland (Bratach Gorm and overall champion at London
• Glenn Brown, Glasgow (Argyllshire Gathering Senior Piobaireachd winner)
• Cameron Drummond, Edinburgh (Northern Meeting Former Winners MSR winner)
• Alasdair Henderson, Dunoon, Scotland (Northern Meeting Gold Medal winner)
• Jack Lee, Surrey, British Columbia (Argyllshire Gathering Former Winners MSR winner and Masters winner)
• Angus MacColl, Benderloch, Scotland (second in Inverness Clasp)
• Ian K. MacDonald, Whitby, Ontario (second in Argyllshire Gathering Senior Piobaireachd)
• Roddy MacLeod, Glasgow (2016 Glenfiddich Champion)
• Iain Speirs, Edinburgh (Northern Meeting Clasp winner)
• Craig Sutherland, Crieff, Scotland (Argyllshire Gathering Gold Medal winner)

So, be sure to research the players and check out our Big Prizes database for past success at the Glenfiddich and other major events.

And be sure also to watch the livestream of the event via the National Piping Centre‘s site.

Thanks to our sponsors, R.G. Hardie, and good luck to all readers who give our Pick the Glenfiddich Five contest a go – and best of luck to all competitors on October 28th at Blair Atholl Castle.