Black Label Smokers

Black Label Smokers is a competition barbecue team with 9 Kansas City Barbeque Society (KCBS) contests on record between 2019 and 2026. Their best overall finish is 7th of 42 at the Jack Daniel's World Championship Shade Tree Contest (BACKYARD) (JUDGES FULL) (2019). They are ranked #4147 of 6,491 teams in the KCBS power rankings.

⚔ Compare with another team

At a glance (the record in numbers)

Power ranking

#4,147

of 6,491 rated · rankings

Rating

1480

peak 1514 · rated over 7 contests

Contests

in the data

First seen

Apr 19, 2019

latest May 15, 2026 · 7.1 years on the trail

Grand champs

0 reserve

Category wins

0 podiums

Overall top-10s

11% of 9 contests

Avg finish

top 66%

overall standings

Best overall

513.1088 / 540

Backyard · Jack Daniel's World Championship Shade Tree Contest (BACKYARD) (JUDGES FULL)

Perfect 180s

Current form

322.88 ▲

last 5 Backyard vs avg 321.06 (+1.83)

Walk rate

22%

contests with a top-10 call

Best single call

176

Chicken · High on the Hog Festival (BACKYARD ONLY)

Consistency

±8.63

spread of their Backyard overall scores (lower = steadier)

Strongest meat

Pork

avg 163.39 · weakest Pork Ribs (160.75)

Road miles

across 9 mapped stops

Schedule strength

47%

of rated fields were softer than their average draw (1561)

Purse competed for

$44K

listed at 7 contests — purses, not winnings

State championships

0 🏅

won from 2 state-championship entries

Backyard avg

321.06 / 360

6 Backyard contests · 0 GCs

Backyard (3-meat) avg

513.11 / 540

1 Backyard (3-meat) contest · 0 GCs

These overall scores sit on different scales (Backyard out of 360, Backyard (3-meat) out of 540), so they're kept separate — averaging them together would be misleading.

This team cooks the Backyard series — its own boards, records and Team of the Year are here.

Storylines (4 found in their record)

Each card leads with the number behind the story, straight from their results.

High-water mark

513.1088 career-best overall

95.0% of a perfect 540

Their best day on record: 513.1088 at Jack Daniel's World Championship Shade Tree Contest (BACKYARD) (JUDGES FULL) — 95.0% of a perfect 540.

Backyard
Oct 25, 2019

A tough matchup

5–0 behind in the head-to-head

Bentley Que ahead in 100% of their meetings

Bentley Que has come out ahead in 5 of their 5 shared contests.

A strong matchup

3–0 ahead in the head-to-head

Ahead in 100% of their meetings

They've finished ahead of HIT OR MISS BBQ in 3 of their 3 shared contests.

The comeback

2.6 yrs off the trail, then back

Off the trail for 2.6 years, then back at The High on the Hog Festival (BACKYARD ONLY) (May 20, 2022).

last seen Oct 25, 2019
back May 20, 2022

Teams like this (closest power rating)

The teams rated closest to Black Label Smokers, each with one reason worth a look.

134 rated teams sit within a point of this rating, so a place on this list means the numbers match — no more than that.

Limp Brizkit

#4,136 of the rated field

1480 power rating

Contests: 7
GCs: 0
Top-10s: 0%
Peak: 1480

Careers of much the same size, 7 contests to 9, so neither rating has had more chance to settle than the other.

rated over 7 contests
last seen Oct 16, 2026

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KICKIN BULL BBQ

#4,160 of the rated field

1480 power rating

Contests: 7
GCs: 0
Top-10s: 14%
Peak: 1480

Their last contest in the data was back in 2023, 3 years before Black Label Smokers's most recent — their rating stopped moving when they stopped cooking.

rated over 7 contests

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JUST BLOWING SMOKE

#4,142 of the rated field

1480 power rating

Contests: 7
GCs: 0
Top-10s: 0%
Peak: 1515

They've been 1515 at their best, 34 points above where they sit today — they're arriving at this rating from above.

rated over 7 contests
last seen May 15, 2021

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SPITZ BROTHERS BBQ

#4,159 of the rated field

1480 power rating

Contests: 7
GCs: 0
Top-10s: 0%
Peak: 1480

Level with Black Label Smokers on power rating, which is the whole reason they're on the list.

rated over 7 contests
last seen Sep 20, 2019

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FAT DADDY JOE'S BBQ

#4,165 of the rated field

1480 power rating

Contests: 7
GCs: 0
Top-10s: 0%
Peak: 1480

They were already cooking in 2013, 6 years before Black Label Smokers's first contest.

rated over 7 contests
last seen Oct 20, 2017

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HURRY UP AND WAIT

#4,157 of the rated field

1480 power rating

Contests: 7
GCs: 0
Top-10s: 0%
Peak: 1480

Their last contest in the data was back in 2017, 9 years before Black Label Smokers's most recent — their rating stopped moving when they stopped cooking.

rated over 7 contests

⚔ Compare careers

Familiar foes (most-met opponents in overall standings — one meeting per contest)

Opponent	Meetings	Ahead	Behind	Win rate
LEE LA Q	6	1	5	17%	⚔ compare
Bentley Que	5	0	5	0%	⚔ compare

By meat

Category	Entries	Calls	Best	Worst	Average	Avg finish
Chicken	8	1	176	150.2172	163.32	top 59%
Pork Ribs	8	1	173.7144	154.2172	160.75	top 63%
Pork	2	1	171.9772	154.8000	163.39	top 58%

“Calls” = top-10 category finishes (getting called to the stage). Scores here are the final weighted totals KCBS publishes; per-criterion appearance/taste/tenderness marks aren’t in the public results feed.

By field size and state

By contest size

Field	Contests	GCs	Avg finish
Medium (20–39)	6	0	top 74%
Large (40+)	1	0	top 17%

Repeat visits (contests they've cooked twice or more)

Contest	Visits	Best	GCs	Avg finish	Last visit
High on the Hog Festival (BACKYARD ONLY)	3	17	0	top 67%	May 15, 2026
The High on the Hog Festival (BACKYARD ONLY)	3	22	0	top 82%	May 17, 2024

More numbers

Busiest season 2019 2 contests

Contests a season 1.3 across 7 seasons in the data

Most contests held in TN 9 of 9 contests

Contests visited 3 2 of them more than once

Opponents faced 180 finished ahead 93 times, behind 166

Longest layoff 2.6 yrs Oct 25, 2019 → May 20, 2022

Milestones (the firsts, the round numbers and the personal bests)

20262 milestones

May 15 Career-best single call (Chicken)176 High on the Hog Festival (BACKYARD ONLY)
May 15 Most recent contest High on the Hog Festival (BACKYARD ONLY)

20195 milestones

Oct 25 First call Jack Daniel's World Championship Shade Tree Contest (BACKYARD) (JUDGES FULL)
Oct 25 First overall top-10 Jack Daniel's World Championship Shade Tree Contest (BACKYARD) (JUDGES FULL)
Oct 25 First overall past 90% of a perfect score513.1088 Jack Daniel's World Championship Shade Tree Contest (BACKYARD) (JUDGES FULL)
Oct 25 Career-best overall score513.1088 Jack Daniel's World Championship Shade Tree Contest (BACKYARD) (JUDGES FULL)
Oct 25 Peak power rating (1514) Jack Daniel's World Championship Shade Tree Contest (BACKYARD) (JUDGES FULL)

20181 milestone

Apr 20 First tracked contest High on the Hog Festival

Power rating over time (1500 = average; recomputed nightly)

📈 Biggest rating jumps

Swing	Contest	Date
+11.9	Jack Daniel's World Championship Shade Tree Contest (BACKYARD) (JUDGES FULL)	Oct 25, 2019
+2.5	High on the Hog Festival	Apr 19, 2019
+0.5	High on the Hog Festival (BACKYARD ONLY)	May 15, 2026

📉 Toughest weekends

Swing	Contest	Date
-12.5	High on the Hog Festival (BACKYARD ONLY)	May 16, 2025
-10.8	The High on the Hog Festival (BACKYARD ONLY)	May 17, 2024
-6.4	The High on the Hog Festival (BACKYARD ONLY)	May 20, 2022
-5.2	The High on the Hog Festival (BACKYARD ONLY)	May 19, 2023

Scores over time (% of a perfect score — tap a meat to add it)

Overall finish over time (top-% of field, lower is better)

Where they finish (overall)

Best vs average (by meat)

How entries end (by meat)

Season by season

Season	Contests	Top-10s	Walk rate	Avg finish	Best overall (% of perfect)	Avg overall (% of perfect)
2026	1	0	100%	top 59%	93.2%	93.2%
2025	1	0	0%	top 100%	86.3%	86.3%
2024	1	0	0%	top 92%	88.4%	88.4%
2023	1	0	0%	top 76%	90.9%	90.9%
2022	1	0	0%	top 76%	89.7%	89.7%
2019	2	1	50%	top 30%	95%	90.8%
2018	2	0	0%	—	—	—

Contest history (click a row for the event, a column to sort)

Date	Event	Overall	Chicken	Ribs	Pork	Brisket
May 15, 2026	High on the Hog Festival (BACKYARD ONLY) Winchester, TN	17 / 29 (335.4172)	7 (176)	23 (159.4172)	—	—
May 16, 2025	High on the Hog Festival (BACKYARD ONLY) Winchester, TN	32 / 32 (310.7200)	32 (150.2172)	30 (160.5028)	—	—
May 17, 2024	The High on the Hog Festival (BACKYARD ONLY) Winchester, TN	36 / 39 (318.1716)	30 (163.9544)	39 (154.2172)	—	—
May 19, 2023	The High on the Hog Festival (BACKYARD ONLY) Winchester, TN	26 / 34 (327.3372)	11 (172.5600)	29 (154.7772)	—	—
May 20, 2022	The High on the Hog Festival (BACKYARD ONLY) 🏅 Winchester, TN	22 / 29 (322.7656)	24 (160.5256)	18 (162.2400)	—	—
Oct 25, 2019	Jack Daniel's World Championship Shade Tree Contest (BACKYARD) (JUDGES FULL) Lynchburg, TN	7 / 42 (513.1088)	16 (167.4172)	5 (173.7144)	7 (171.9772)	—
Apr 19, 2019	High on the Hog Festival 🏅 Winchester, TN	17 / 39 (311.9316)	15 (157.0628)	15 (154.8688)	—	—
Oct 26, 2018	Jack Daniel's World Championship Shade Tree Contest (BACKYARD) (JUDGES FULL) Lynchburg, TN	—	34 (158.8232)	14 (166.2860)	41 (154.8000)	—
Apr 20, 2018	High on the Hog Festival Winchester, TN	—	—	—	—	—

Black Label Smokers

At a glance (the record in numbers)

Power ranking

Rating

Contests

First seen

Grand champs

Category wins

Overall top-10s

Avg finish

Best overall

Perfect 180s

Current form

Walk rate

Best single call

Consistency

Strongest meat

Road miles

Schedule strength

Purse competed for

State championships

Backyard avg

Backyard (3-meat) avg

Storylines (4 found in their record)

High-water mark

A tough matchup

A strong matchup

The comeback

Teams like this (closest power rating)

Familiar foes (most-met opponents in overall standings — one meeting per contest)

By meat

By field size and state

By contest size

Repeat visits (contests they've cooked twice or more)

More numbers

Milestones (the firsts, the round numbers and the personal bests)

Power rating over time (1500 = average; recomputed nightly)

📈 Biggest rating jumps

📉 Toughest weekends

Scores over time (% of a perfect score — tap a meat to add it)

Overall finish over time (top-% of field, lower is better)

Where they finish (overall)

Best vs average (by meat)

How entries end (by meat)

Season by season

Contest history (click a row for the event, a column to sort)

Career map (orange GC · green top-10 · grey the rest — tap a pin)