Innholdsfortegnelse for May 2025 i American Whiskey Magazine

American single malt whiskey is at the heart of a quintessential American dream and the legacy of Virginia Distillery. Virginia Distillery’s story is full of imagination, a love for whiskey, ingenuity, and a deep sense of purpose; a family business in every sense of the word, imagined by an Irish immigrant and realized by his family after his unexpected exit from this world. In 2011, Dr George G Moore, born in Ireland, emigrated in 1972 and became a successful businessperson in the tech industry. After retiring, Dr Moore purchased acreage in Lovingston, Virginia, with a dream to build a distillery in his beloved adopted home and share his passion for single malt whiskey with the world. Dr Moore has always been a lover of single malt whiskey. Scotch whisky was…

What is in a name? Well, on this occasion ‘malt’ is in a name and despite what Shakespeare was getting at, it actually does define the essence of the thing on this occasion. As the official designation now states, in order for a spirit to be labelled American single malt it must be made from 100 per cent malted barley. With that in mind, understanding the relationship between a distillery and ‘maltster’ seems like an important place to start in our journey of American single malt education. Country Malt Group’s journey began in 1995 with a small backyard shed set-up in Champlain, New York. The father and son duo that kicked it all off were armed with just six bags of grain, a homebrew grist mill, and a cargo van;…

A merican single malt whiskey is finally a thing! People have been making it for decades, but it’s only officially a category as of January 19, 2025. All too often, people liken this category to Scotch, but it is its own unique thing. Making cocktails with American single malt doesn’t have to be a mystery. Here’s what you need to know. “With the ratification, it’s so exciting,” says Westland Whiskey distillery education ambassador Jenna Sagmoen. “I really hope more people are open to exploring the category, not just bartenders, but people at home, knowing that it’s a very flexible spirit. We see great cocktails already made with bourbon and rye whiskey, so why would American single malt be any different? For me, the ratios look a tad different. Maybe you…

Balcones Distilling Company got off to a wobbly start, earning the distinction of releasing the first Texas whiskey — a months-old corn whiskey — just months before Garrison Brothers Distilling was slated to release an aged straight Texas whiskey, a story reminiscent of the Sooners who entered Oklahoma early to claim land. These days Balcones is celebrated for its American single malt whiskey, which has won Best American Single Malt at the World Whiskies Awards in 2025 and 2020, and the distillery has stopped producing bourbon altogether to focus on this and other whiskey styles. What began as a passion project, distilling in a shed under a bridge in Waco, Texas, has grown to become a Texas distilling legend. “I was managing a brew pub and we’d had conversations about…

Drawing inspiration from the breathtaking landscapes and abundant bounty of the American Northwest — one of America’s most fertile barley-growing regions — Westward Whiskey embarks on its remarkable journey in the enchanting Willamette Valley of Oregon. This picturesque valley, stretching 150 miles, is a harmonious blend of rolling hills and lush fields, cradled between the majestic Coast Range to the west and the towering Cascade Range to the east. Once celebrated for its exquisite wines, particularly the rich and complex Pinot Noir, this vibrant area now serves as the perfect backdrop for elevating the art of whiskey making, infusing every drop with the essence of its stunning surroundings. There was no doubt that barley would be the grain of choice for Christian Krogstad and Thomas Mooney when they envisioned the…

ANDALUSIA WHISKEY CO TOMMY ERWIN AND TY PHELPS, CO-FOUNDERS Andalusia Whiskey Co was founded by two ex-craft beer brewers in 2016, located in Blanco, Texas. The duo made the decision to specialize in American single malt whiskey. When did your involvement with the ASWMC begin? June 2021. Seems like a lifetime ago! How did the distillery’s journey into creating American single malt begin? Was creating ASMW in the plans from the beginning? Yes. As former brewers, it only made sense to make single malt whiskeys due to our experience with malted barley. (And neither of the founders are very big fans of bourbon.) Could you talk me through your process of creation? All products are made from base materials — whiskey from malt, rum from molasses, brandy from wine. Our…

Traveling can be incredibly stressful; during a nine-week stint last year I was in 16 different cities. I always try to look for cigar lounges along the way, which sometimes ends up being a distillery patio. It’s a great way to get to know the locals, learn about the local laws and customs, and find out who’s drinking what whiskey, all while taking the time to enjoy a fine cigar. When traveling with cigars, there are a number of options. You can take a hard-sided travel humidor to protect and keep your cigars humidified, or you can opt for the simpler solution: a zip-top baggie with a small humidification pack. Of course, if you’re planning to seek out a cigar shop, you can always just buy something there. There’s one…

Santa Fe Spirits started out its spirits journey with an apple brandy, but it wasn’t long before the team expanded into making single malt whiskey, along with an array of other spirits. Located 7,000 feet above sea level at the foot of the majestic Sangre de Cristo mountain range, this distillery provides a very unique proposition when it comes to its American single malt. The distillery was founded in 2010 by Colin and Suzette Keegan. Colin, an architect by trade, originally designed a home in an apple orchard — what seemed like the perfect setting. While the project fell through, he ended up purchasing the orchard in 2001, pressing apples each fall to make everything from juice, to hard cider, to apple brandy. Then, in 2008, Colin turned his focus…

Triple Eight Distillery, on the tiny Nantucket Island in Massachusetts, has a long background in the drinks business. Having begun as a winery in 1983, the company next moved into beer, opening Cisco Brewers in 1995. It was the possibilities opened up by making beer and wine which inspired the move into spirits. In 1997, co-founder Dean Long purchased a small still with the intention of making fortified wine at the winery. Within a few years, Triple Eight had a 500-liter Holstein pot hybrid, a distilling permit, and a plan to make whiskey. There doesn’t seem to have ever been a question of what style of whiskey the distillery would produce. Coming from a brewing background, Triple Eight’s spirit has been malt-led from the start. “Maris Otter was the base…

Please don’t call it “American Scotch.” When the United States’ Alcohol and Tobacco Trade and Tax Bureau (TTB) published its latest standard of identity for a category of American whiskey, American single malt whisky had its official imprimatur. Note that the “e” in whiskey was omitted which is usually included in the designations of bourbon, rye, and other American whiskeys. Still, don’t fall into the trap of thinking these are upstart copycats of traditional drams from Scotland. “People need to understand it’s American single malt; it’s not trying to be like Scotch. With what we are doing, it’s its own category,” says Woodford Reserve Distillery’s master distiller, Elizabeth McCall. Of course, Woodford is known as a premium bourbon brand, but it was the first modern Kentucky bourbon distillery to use…

When the Samuels family began developing the Maker’s Mark brand, the one thing on everyone’s mind was that they wanted to create something that tasted good. As proud as they were of their family’s generations of distilling heritage, the TW Samuels brand just didn’t measure up back then. What they created — a premium wheated bourbon at a time when bourbon was heading for a downswing — changed the course of the family’s history. Maker’s Mark has long been one of the best-known bourbons to come out of Kentucky, and now the team is making history once again, this time with Maker’s Mark’s first new brand since its founding: Star Hill Farm Wheat Whiskey. “The reason I’m so excited about this is it’s allowing us to innovate, to push flavor…

Peggy Noe Stevens is a master taster, whiskey reviewer and competition judge. She is known for her super palate in the industry, as well as her founding innovations connecting whiskey and food pairing styles and methods. This month we feature the following brands and the inspiration for creating unique profiles and food pairings. The following is a guideline to discovering the ultimate food pairings for your guests: How to pair Balance is when you complement a predominant note in the whiskey and balance the flavors so one does not dominate over the other. It creates harmony. Counterbalance is when opposites attract and you fire up a food flavor, only to have the flavors of the whiskey tame and neutralize any spikes of difference. Explosion is almost too much of a…