Extra Virgin Olive Oil Awards and Guides

By Mercedes Uceda , expert in sensory analysis of olive oils, professor at the University of Jaén, and consultant for the production of award-winning extra virgin olive oils. Updated in 2026.

When you see an extra virgin olive oil with an international award, what exactly does it mean? Are all awards worth the same? Is it worth paying more for an award-winning oil?

In this guide, we explain the most important awards and guides in the olive oil sector, how they work, what they evaluate, and how to use them to choose a good extra virgin olive oil. Furthermore, as a production consultant, I have helped several olive mills produce oils that have ended up in these guides, so I can tell you how the process works from the inside.

The key takeaway: the most reliable awards are given through blind tastings by panels of professional tasters. This means the jury evaluates the oil without knowing its brand, variety, or origin. It's the most objective method available. The three most relevant benchmarks for Spanish consumers are Evooleum (World's Top 100), Iberoleum (Best in Spain), and Jaén Selección (Best in the leading province).

What are consumer awards for?

Awards don't tell you which is "the best olive oil in the world" in absolute terms—that depends on your taste. What they do guarantee is that an award-winning oil has passed rigorous and independent quality control and that a panel of experts has verified that it is an extra virgin olive oil without defects and with outstanding positive attributes.

In other words, you can buy an award-winning oil with the confidence that its quality is genuine. It's not marketing or self-promotion; it's been evaluated blind by an external jury.

That doesn't mean an oil without awards is bad. Many excellent extra virgin olive oils don't enter competitions, whether due to cost, lack of awareness, or simply because their producers prefer not to. But when you're starting to explore the world of premium extra virgin olive oil and don't know where to begin, awards are an excellent indicator of quality.

The three reference guides

Of all the guides and awards available, these three are the most relevant for consumers buying oil in Spain. We highlight them because they select oils through blind tastings, have a proven track record, and cover all three levels (global, national, and provincial).

Evooleum Guide — The 100 Best in the World

Published annually by the Mercacei Publishing Group in collaboration with the Spanish Association of Olive-Growing Municipalities (AEMO), the Evooleum guide selects the 100 best extra virgin olive oils in the world through the EVOOLEUM Awards.

The selection process is based on blind tastings conducted by an international jury of professional tasters. Each oil receives a score out of 100, and the top one hundred are included in the guide, accompanied by detailed information sheets with their sensory profile, variety, origin, and recommended food pairings.

Evooleum is the most prestigious global reference in the sector. It is distributed in Michelin-starred restaurants, international trade fairs, and gourmet shops. It is bilingual (Spanish/English) and for several years Spain has led the ranking, with more than half of the oils in the Top 100.

At Molino y Cata: we select and sell oils included in the Evooleum guide every year.

→ View oils from the Evooleum Guide in our store

Iberoleum Guide — The best in Spain

Iberoleum is dedicated exclusively to the best extra virgin olive oils produced in Spain. It evaluates oils in several categories: intense fruity, medium fruity, minority varieties, small productions, best single-varietal oils, and best organic oils. It also includes an award for best packaging design.

The evaluation is also carried out through blind tasting by professional panels. Iberoleum has a more detailed approach than Evooleum regarding the diversity of Spanish olive groves: it is the place where oils from lesser-known varieties, small producers, and areas that are not always represented in international awards are featured.

For the Spanish consumer who wants to discover the richness of national EVOO, Iberoleum is probably the most useful guide.

→ View oils from the Iberoleum Guide in our store

Jaén Selection — The best of the world capital of olive oil

Jaén produces more olive oil than any other province in the world. Jaén Selección is the designation awarded by the Jaén Provincial Council to recognize the best extra virgin olive oils in the province. Each year, eight exceptional oils are selected to represent Jaén at national and international events.

This award is especially significant for the Picual variety, which dominates the olive groves of Jaén. If you like oil with character—intense, bitter, spicy—oils with the Jaén Selección label are a sure bet.

→ View Jaén Selección oils in our store

Other important international awards

In addition to the three main guides, there are other prestigious international awards worth knowing about:

Mario Solinas

Awarded by the International Olive Council (IOC), this prize recognizes sensory excellence at an institutional level. It is named after one of the most influential researchers in the sensory analysis of olive oil. Oils are evaluated in categories of intense, medium, and light fruitiness. It is probably the most prestigious technical award in the sector, as it is granted by the international body that regulates olive oil quality.

New York International Olive Oil Competition (NYIOOC)

One of the world's largest competitions in terms of the number of participants, it is held annually in New York and evaluates oils from all producing countries. The NYIOOC gold and silver medals are especially valued in the North American and Asian markets.

Foods from Spain

Awarded by the Spanish Ministry of Agriculture, Fisheries and Food, this award recognizes the best Spanish extra virgin olive oils in categories such as bitter green fruity, sweet green fruity, ripe, and organic, with a special prize for the best overall oil in the country. It is the official recognition by the Spanish government of olive oil excellence.

BIOL Award

Held in Italy since 1996, this competition is dedicated exclusively to organic extra virgin olive oils. More than 400 oils from 15 countries participate, evaluated by an international jury. It is the benchmark for those seeking the highest quality organic EVOO.

Flos Olei

More than just an award, it's the first international guide dedicated to the world's finest extra virgin olive oils. It includes information on over 500 producers from 57 countries, with historical, cultural, and sensory data. Coordinated by experts Marco Oreggia and Laura Marinelli, it's published in Italian, English, Spanish, and Chinese. It's an encyclopedic reference for the sector.

Other recognized awards

The awards landscape is broad and continues to expand. Other competitions worth knowing about include: ATHENA International Olive Oil Competition (Greece), AVPA Paris (France, which includes oils from all over the world), Expoliva (part of the International Olive Oil Fair in Jaén, Spain), Sol d'Oro (Verona, Italy, one of the oldest), L'Orciolo d'Oro (Italy), Feinschmecker Olio Award (Europe), Olive Japan (a leading award in Asia), and the Australian International Olive Awards.

How is an oil evaluated in a competition?

Understanding the evaluation process helps to appreciate the value of an award. In serious competitions, the process is always the same:

Blind tasting. The tasters receive the samples identified only by a number. They don't know the brand, variety, origin, or price. This eliminates any commercial or emotional bias.

Standardized cup. The official olive oil tasting cup (opaque blue cup) is used so that the color of the oil does not influence the evaluation. Color is not an indicator of quality.

Tasting panel. Evaluations are carried out by panels of accredited tasters—professionals trained in the official method of the International Olive Council. They are not amateurs or influencers: they are experts with verifiable technical training.

Scoring by attributes. Positive attributes (fruity, bitter, and spicy) are evaluated, and the absence of defects is checked. Each attribute is scored on a defined scale, and the final score is the result of averaging the panel's ratings.

This process is exactly the same as what we teach in our guided tastings in Granada . If you really want to understand how it works, a tasting gives you the experience firsthand.

Our relationship with the awards

At Molino y Cata, we don't just sell award-winning oils: we participate in the process that makes them possible. Mercedes Uceda, co-founder of Molino y Cata, works as a production consultant with several olive mills, helping them select the optimal harvest time, control the production process, and define the sensory profile of their oils. Several of the oils we advise have been selected for guides such as Evooleum, Iberoleum, and Jaén Selección.

This gives us a perspective that few stores have: we know the oils from the inside, we know what's behind each bottle and we can explain why an oil tastes the way it does.

Our selection of award-winning oils isn't simply a matter of copying a list of winners. We personally taste each oil and select those we truly believe deserve to be in our shop, award-winning or not.

Award-winning oils in our store

Evooleum Guide Oils: our selection of oils included in the World Top 100.

Iberoleum Guide Oils: the best EVOO in Spain according to the national reference guide.

Jaén Selection Oils: the eight oils distinguished each year by the Jaén Provincial Council.

Our entire selection: all the oils in our store, award-winning and non-award-winning, selected with the same professional criteria.