Welcome to our new column, Spirited Stock. In this column, we'll take a deep dive into a particular spirit, wine/beer, or trend in the beverage industry. We're starting things off with a three-part series on American Single Malt Whiskey (ASMW).
You’ve likely heard a lot about ASMW in the last year or so. The product is gaining steam, with big beverage companies like Diageo making plays to enter the category through acquisitions (Balcones in Diageo’s case) or the creation of new products.
In fact, according to the IWSR, the ASMW segment has exhibited +15% average annual volume growth from 2017-2021, with year-over-year growth of +21% in 2021.
This increase is no doubt led by the growing number of distilleries. “The biggest driver for increased consumer interest in the category is the incredible increase in the number of distilleries making American Single Malt—in an increasingly wide variety of styles,” say Nora Ganley-Roper and Adam Polonski, co-founders of Lost Lantern, an independent bottler of American whiskey.
This wide variety in style and flavor is also attracting consumers to the category. “I love bourbon with my whole heart, but if you set 20 different bourbons next to each other and taste through them, to a certain extent, they are going to be fairly similar to one another,” says Murphy Quint, head distiller at Cedar Ridge Distillery. “If you do the same thing with American Single Malt, you’ll taste 20 very different single malts. This category was designed to have a lot of range, and I think that is exciting to consumers.”
The range of flavors is intriguing, but it can also be troublesome when trying to define the category. Just what constitutes an ASMW?
That’s a difficult question to answer, and it’s why ASMW distillers are seeking to give the category a solid definition.
On July 29, in response to petitions and industry member requests, the Alcohol and Tobacco Tax and Trade Bureau (TTB) took steps to formally establish a standard of identity for ASMW.
To be labeled as a US-made single malt, the TTB proposed that, “the liquid must be distilled entirely at one American distillery, and must be mashed, distilled, and aged in the States. It must also be made of 100% malted barley, stored in an oak barrel of 700 liters or under, and be bottled at 40% ABV or higher.”
That definition is taken from the one proposed by the American Single Malt Whiskey Commission (ASMWC), which is a group of distillers and proponents of the category that was formed in 2016. The goal of the ASMWC is to address the growing need for American-based producers to define the category—both domestically and internationally—in order to protect, educate, promote, and ultimately grow it.
Cedar Ridge Distillery (Photo: Cedar Ridge Distillery. )
“The Commission was founded by distillers who make American Single malt and wanted to band together to get the category established and official, as well as collaborate together to promote the category and educate both consumers and retailers, bars, etc. around what American Single Malt is all about,” says Jared Himstedt, head distiller at Balcones Distilling, which is one of the founding members of the ASMWC. “The TTB proposed definition is word-for-word taken from the Commission. Our President, Steve Hawley, has done the majority of the heavy lifting to get this on the TTB’s agenda and build the relationships we needed to get this attention and prioritized.”
The definition submitted to the TTB aims to encompass all distillers and to recognize processes already in place, rather than introduce anything new. “You have to keep in mind that even though the category hasn’t officially been defined, some distilleries have been producing this style of whiskey for a couple of decades now,” says Cedar Ridge’s Quint, which is also a member of the ASWMC. “So when the founding members of the American Single Malt Whiskey Commission wrote the proposed definition, they were very inclusive of all the distilleries that had already been producing it. They didn’t want to create a definition that would disrupt what anyone was already doing.”
The proposed definition also ensures the unique flavor profiles of American Single Malt Whiskey, which is what draws many to the category, will remain in place as well. “What’s so exciting to me is that there isn’t really a specific flavor profile of American Single Malt Whiskey,” says Quint. “With bourbon and rye, you pretty much know what to expect. But with American Single Malt, the proposed definition for this category leaves a lot of room for variance and differentiation.
“All the whiskey is made form 100% barley, but outside of that, the producer essentially has free range to get creative. You can utilize different malts (caramel, chocolate, peat, etc.) and different finishing casks (sherry butts, port pipes, wines casks, etc.). You can use all of these different tools in order to shape the whiskey along the way.”
Ganley-Roper & Polonski add that the range of climates and aging conditions around the United States compared to Scotland or other single malt producing countries is also responsible for the wide range in ASMW’s flavor profile. “In fact, American Single Malt probably offers one of the widest ranges of flavor profiles of any type of spirit in the world,” they say. “Some ASMWs have a lot in common with Scotch. Others, especially those aged in new oak, have some of the vanilla and oak flavors of bourbon balanced with cereal grain flavors. And other American Single Malts, like ones made from peated or mesquite-smoked barley or ones distilled from beer (sometimes even hopped beer!) are totally unique.”
The TTB’s proposed rulemaking went through a 60-day comment period, which ended on September 27th. ASWMC members haven’t heard any updates since, but they remain hopeful that an official announcement could come before the end of the year. “They have not published a timeline, but we have every expectation that American Single Malt will be officially codified in the near future,” say Lost Lantern’s Ganley-Roper & Polonski of Lost Lantern, which is a long-time member of the ASWMC.
Establishing an official definition would be a boon for the ASMW category in many ways.
Leveling the Playing Field: “It ensures that all American Single Malt distillers have a common playing field and are following the same rules, and that consumers can have some sense of what they’re drinking,” say Ganley-Roper & Polonski.
Education/Marketing: “Without a formal designation or definition, it’s hard to market the whiskey. It’s almost impossible to convince someone to buy an American Single Malt if they don’t know what American Single Malt is. Once people are educated about the category, that becomes so much easier,” says Quint. “Without the official definition, people will view it as a niche product, and that’s not what this is.”
Ganley-Roper & Polonski agree that it’s important to establish ASMW as a solid category so that distillers can focus on what makes each of them different. “Bourbon distillers (usually!) don’t have to teach their customers what ‘bourbon’ is. They can just focus on why their particular bourbon is unique and exciting,” they say. “American single malt producers have to teach their potential customers what American Single Malt is before they can even start talking about what makes their own whiskey special!”
Global Landscape: An official definition will also help to cement ASMW into the global tradition of single malt. “Look at the global single malt landscape: Everyone knows Scotch, and everyone knows Irish Whiskey, but we’re also seeing amazing single malts from Japan, Taiwan, India, Australia, you name it!” says Quint. “The United States needs to legitimize this category so that we can compete on a global scale with all of these other countries.”
Ganley-Roper & Polonski agree and say the proposed definition sets up ASMW to fit in with the understanding of single malt elsewhere in the world. “The proposed definition aligns American Single Malt whiskey with similar standards for single malt whiskey made all around the world. This will become increasingly important as more American Single Malt Whiskey producers start exporting,” they say. “The most important components of the proposed American Single Malt whiskey definition are that it must be made from 100% malted barley and made at one single distillery in the United States. These fit with the globally established understanding of single malt whiskey.”
Check back next week for part two in our series on ASMW, where we'll discuss the category in the on-premise.
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