A Few Thoughts On American Malt Whiskey

For many years, I have been saying American Single Malt Whiskey was not worth the money. American distilleries were trying too hard to imitate Scotch Whisky by smoking their malt with peat and it was mediocre single malt at best. Why buy American peated single malt when you could purchase a good bottle of single malt from Scotland for only a few dollars more? A single malt could be made without the peat, but that left a fairly boring tasting whiskey. The new barrel in an American straight single malt added some flavor from the barrel but it is still a simple flavor profile without much going on compared to other American whiskeys. I was happy to leave the malt whiskey to the Scots and Irish.

However, in the past few years, American distillers have been making malt whiskey by using 51% malt and adding corn and other grains to the mash bill to give their whiskeys a unique American Malt flavor. Heaven Hill led the way when they released a Parker’s Heritage Collection bottle of eight year old malt whiskey that was 51% malted barley in 2015. It was quite good whiskey. The corn in the mash bill gave it a sweetness not found in other malt whiskey. Since then, there have been other artisan distillers who have made American straight malt whiskey.

American distillers need to make American straight malt whiskey using 51% malted barley and brand new, charred oak barrels. This sets them apart from the malt whiskey being made in Scotland and Ireland. They can smoke their malt, but I prefer unique smokes such as apple wood to peat. Copper Fox Distillery in Virginia has been doing this for about twenty years now but they started by making a single malt whiskey and I found it interesting, but still a bit boring in flavor profile. I personally believe the additional grains are needed to add layers of flavor to the malt whiskey.

The Old Pogue Distillery in Maysville, Kentucky is making a rye whiskey from 100% malted rye. It could be considered a single malt whiskey, but I prefer to classify it as a rye whiskey. Rye is a much more flavorful grain than barley and does not need other grains to add depth to the flavor. Barley has sweetness and a nutty flavor that is fine when added to other grains, but easily overpowered by the wood in a new barrel. To me it is more of a flavoring grain than a mainstay flavor grain.

These are just a few of my thoughts on American Malt Whiskey. I admit I am a bigger fan of Bourbon and Rye Whiskeys than Malt Whiskey. I am sure there are people who love American Single Malts and will disagree with some of my thoughts. At least, I hope so. Let me hear your thoughts.