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Woodford Reserve Moves To Foster Rye Farming In Kentucky

In an ongoing effort to bring production of rye grain back to Kentucky, Woodford Reserve today announced a five-year commitment to purchasing the grain from local farmers while working with the University of Kentucky to conduct research. Beginning this summer, Woodford Reserve will run small distillation trials on ten varieties of rye to determine their …

Beginning this summer, Woodford Reserve will run small distillation trials on ten varieties of rye to determine their flavor nuances that impact bourbon.

“If we can bring rye back to Kentucky, it would not only support farmers, but give a sustainable grain to whiskey producers across the state,” Master Distiller Elizabeth McCall said “Sustainability is a topic I care passionately about – and, working with partners, we can make a big impact.”

Woodford Reserve will purchase the rye grown by four farmers in the trial for the next five years. The grain will be used in production and distillery trials to run sensory tests on the final distillate.

Rye is difficult to grow in Kentucky because of its generally warm, humid climate. Rye is mainly sourced by distillers from the cooler climates of Canada or Europe. To overcome these challenges, more than $1 million will be invested collectively by partners in the development of an open-sourced Kentucky variety over the course of the program.

This project aims to uncover an open-sourced rye variety that will grow well locally in Kentucky.

Rye is an essential part of a suitable environment as it improves the health of soil by reducing negative impacts of rainfall variability and sequesters carbon. Growing rye locally provides a third cash crop for farmers in a two-year corn and soybean rotation. Partnering with local farmers allows for a reduced carbon footprint at the Woodford Reserve Distillery and diversification in supply while strengthening relationships and the economy.

“Woodford Reserve is committed to the environment and to caring for the natural resources that go into making the world’s finest bourbon,” Master Distiller Elizabeth McCall said. “Six ambitious sustainability commitments were announced in 2021, including a commitment to creating a resilient and agile agricultural supply chain.”

Your Favorite Craft Distillery Isn’t Being Bought Out. Yet.

By Richard Thomas One of the idealized features of an artisanal movement–whether it be craft beer, craft whiskey or craft gin–is the spirit of independence. That ideal has existed more often in the imaginations of the imbibers than at the company making the booze, but it’s easy to understand how it got there: the little …

By Richard Thomas

Hudson Maple Cask Rye
(Credit: Richard Thomas)

One of the idealized features of an artisanal movement–whether it be craft beer, craft whiskey or craft gin–is the spirit of independence. That ideal has existed more often in the imaginations of the imbibers than at the company making the booze, but it’s easy to understand how it got there: the little guy’s products are supposed to be the alternative to the stuff made by corporate giants. To some, that matters more than the relative quality of big versus small producers, and these are the folks who are inevitably horrified to discover their favorite craft brew is owned by Anheuser-Busch Inbev.

Truths like that leads many to look at their favorite local distillery, and wonder if it might not be absorbed into some international drinks conglomerate. As someone who has paid close attention to the craft whiskey scene for a decade and a half now, I say relax. The big boys are interested only in the oldest, best established and most widely distributed of the craft brands, as the following timeline and list demonstrates. I’ve excluded cases where the big company bought only a minority share in the small distiller, as those are really investments rather than acquisitions. Also excluded are the acquisitions of brands that cannot really be considered small or craft, like the purchases of Bardstown Bourbon Company, Rabbit Hole and Luxco.

2010:

The Stranahan’s fans gather for Snowflake 2018
(Credit: Richard Thomas)

Stranahan’s was one of the forerunners of craft whiskey, selling their first bottle in 2006 and opening the way for Colorado’s vibrant small distilling scene. This was just six years after St. George’s Spirits introduced their first single malt, so Stranahan’s was also one of the cornerstones in what is now the American Single Malt category. They were bought by Proximo in 2010. It was also one of the first major acquisitions of a craft distiller by a major drinks firm.

The other major acquisition that year was the first stage of William Grant & Sons acquiring Hudson Whiskey. In an unusual move that hasn’t been duplicated since, the makers of Glenfiddich bought the brand made by Tuthilltown Distillery in 2010, but didn’t acquire the actual distillery until 2017. Like Stranahan’s, Tuthilltown was a trailblazer in American small distilling, part of a lobbying effort to rewrite New York State laws to make them more friendly to such enterprises.

2016:

Utah’s High West helped blaze the trail that many have followed since: build your brand with sourced whiskeys, then build your distillery. A decade ago, their transparent approach to their sourcing won them much applause from purists. They were acquired by Constellation Brands for an estimated $160 million.

2017:

Although Washington’s Westland Distillery insists they are not a “craft” distiller, they aren’t a major spirits-maker either. They were acquired by Remy-Cointreau in early 2017.

Westland’s copper
(Credit: Westland Distillery)

Another Washington State whiskey buy-out that year saw Woodinville Whiskey acquired by Moet Hennessy. Woodinville gained much acclaim in the early-to-middle craft whiskey picture for building their brand around whiskeys aged for five years. That has become more of a normal thing in the years since, as more craft distillers have introduced bottled in bond whiskeys, but that was a novelty when Moet Hennessy bought them.

Much like High West, West Virginia’s Smooth Ambler started out by sourcing whiskeys to build their brand, then built their distillery and began work on their in-house spirits. French drinks giant Pernod Ricard bought a majority stake in the company at around the same time as Remy-Cointreau closed the deal on Westland Distillery.

2019:

Nelson’s Greenbrier, a revived family-owned and -operated legacy distillery, makes produces the only wheated Tennessee Whiskey available today. Constellation Brands acquired a majority stake in the company in 2019.

Firestone & Robertson launched in 2012 with their sourced TX Blended Whiskey, and built an impressive, visitor-friendly Whiskey Ranch as their distillery on the outskirts of Dallas-Fort Worth. Pernod Ricard bought them.

2022:

This deal operated like a Russian nesting doll. Samson & Surrey is basically a craft spirits holding company, and in the whiskey department they bought up FEW Spirits, Widow Jane and Brenne. The company was acquired in its turn by Heaven Hill in February 2022.

Wilderness Trail’s old Vendome still.
(Credit: Richard Thomas)

In October 2022, Campari expanded its holdings in Kentucky by buying a 70% stake a distiller started by a pair of veteran industry insiders, Wilderness Trail, for $420 million. Campari was already the owner of Wild Turkey.

A few days after Campari bought Wilderness Trail, the world’s biggest drinks conglomerate, Diageo, bought the Texas whiskey distillery Balcones.

Colorado’s Breckenridge Distillery, billed as the world’s highest, was bought by a Canadian cannabis company.

Finally, there last year saw the rare instance of one small distilling firm acquiring another, when Pennsylvania’s Millstone Spirits Group (i.e. New Liberty Distillery) bought Faber Distilling. Faber doesn’t make whiskey, but New Liberty Does, and the rarity of this kind of move makes it noteworthy.

Bucking the overall trend was Old Potrero. When Japanese drinks company Sapporo bought Anchor Brewing and Distilling in 2018, the deal did not include Old Potrero, which was spun off into a new company called Hotaling & Co. Old Potrero was part of a class of small distillers that predated the craft movement as we know it today, having been founded before the middle 2000s.

When looking at this long string of buy-outs going back more than a decade, the first question to ask yourself is if there is really any call to worry about a buy-out. Most readers probably never tried either Hudson Whiskey or Stranahan’s before 2010, but I can tell you both brands have improved markedly over time, and the details of their production process evolution bear that opinion out in objective terms. The most famous example of a buy-out clearly improving things was Kirin’s acquisition of Four Roses, which brought the brand back from being neglected rotgut into a bourbon celebrated by a devoted fan base. Generally speaking, its the entertainment industry that sees big companies strangling the goose that lays the golden egg; in drinks, that doesn’t often happen.

Woodinville Port Finished Bourbon
(Credit: Richard Thomas)

But if you are still worried that your favorite local craft distillery might get bought up, the flurry of activity in 2022 looks to have petered out. The only notable whiskey purchase so far in 2023 was Barrell Craft Spirits buying a rickhouse in Shively for $2.4 million, which is really just an infrastructure expansion for the admired negociant. Beyond that, the trend is pretty clear: a major company would only be interested in buying your local distiller, with that cool cocktail bar and tasting room you enjoy so much, if it has been around for more than a decade and is a nationally recognized brand with distribution to match.

Otherwise, bankruptcy and asset stripping is the thing you should really be afraid of. In researching this article, I discovered that a small whiskey-maker that I incorporated into the new edition of my American Whiskey, Savannah’s Ghost Coast Distillery, closed its doors in September. So think on that when you decide where to go out for a drink this weekend.

Applications For Bourbon Women Scholarship Program Due On 25th

Bourbon Women is pleased to announce the 2023 SIP Scholarship Program funded by the Bourbon Women Foundation. Bourbon Women is a community that believes in paying it forward, helping develop new talent and professional connections in any industry, especially the spirits industry. Each year hundreds of Bourbon Women gather at the SIPosium National Conference for …

The SIP Scholarship Program gives individuals interested in moving into the spirits industry or furthering their careers access to the Bourbon Women SIPosium National Conference, August 24 – 27, 2023, at the Hyatt Regency in Louisville. “Our SIP Scholars represent a way to build community and drive inclusion in the spirits industry, giving women and diverse individuals the opportunity to meet and network with women and leaders from across the country. Our members, both industry and consumer, are thrilled to bring more women into the spirits industry and support the networking needed to progress in their careers,” said Heather Wibbels, managing director of Bourbon Women.

This year the Bourbon Women Foundation is offering ten scholarships for the 2023 National SIPosium Conference. A SIP scholarship covers a three-year Bourbon Women membership, the cost of the SIPosium National Conference ticket, two night’s lodging at the hotel, an Angels Share reception with past recipients, mentors and some of the Bourbon Women leadership. This facilitates connections and helps the scholars take full advantage of the weekend and the relationships made over a delicious sip of whiskey. Wibbels said, “For our SIP Scholars as our SIP attendees, whiskey isn’t just a spirit we enjoy, it’s a way to create connection and community with one another, and a way to empower one another with education, opportunities and fun.”

Applications for the 2023 SIP Scholarship Program are available on the Bourbon Women website (https://bourbonwomen.org/2023-sip-scholar-program/). Applications are due by April 25th, 2023, Midnight PST.

Jameson and Ancestry Partner on Historic Publican Records

Irish Distillers, producer of some of the world’s best loved Irish whiskeys, and Ancestry, the global leader in family history, have partnered once again to deliver more than fifty years of historical Jameson publicans’ agreements. The agreements are now available to search for free between March 27th and April 30th on Ancestry.ie The Publican Agreements, …

The Publican Agreements, which comprise of 37 digitized volumes, each containing approximately 1,500 individual contracts, are legal agreements between John Jameson & Son and publicans who bought whiskey in bulk in Ireland in the first half of the 20^th century.

Traditionally, Jameson had two routes to market. One was to bottle in-house and sell directly to the consumer, while the second was to sell by the barrel to publicans. With the latter, labels were supplied to the individual publicans by the Bow Street Distillery and publicans would bottle the whiskey in-house and add their name to the label.

To ensure that the whiskey was not tampered with in any way, publicans were required to sign an annual legal agreement which had to be witnessed, and often signed, by a customer on the premises.

The records contain the name and address of every publican who purchased Jameson in bulk at that time in addition to the name and occupation of witnesses, thus providing a unique insight into the role of the Irish pub in the community at that time.

The records belong to Irish Distillers but the digitization project with Ancestry will make them accessible to the public for the first time and support genealogical mapping.

Carol Quinn, Head of Archives at Irish Distillers said: “We are incredibly proud to once again partner with Ancestry to publish another set of important historical records from our archive. For centuries, the Irish public house has been an integral part of Irish social culture – a place in the center of the community in which to meet and socialize. Through the digitization of these records, we have created a unique information source that can be used to document the Irish pub in its heyday. We now understand that there has been a serious decline in the number of pubs in Ireland which is why these records are even more important as they provide a socio-economic history of a vanished Ireland.”

“The records, which cover every county in Ireland, are fantastic for genealogy purposes because in addition to the publican details, you have the details of the witnesses and given the role of the pub at this time, this could have been anyone from within the local community – a local farmer, doctor a chemist’s assistant and even a harness maker pops up! There’s a broad range of witness occupations listed within the records, and all of these are now available to search online on Ancestry.ie,” added Quinn.

Rhona Murray, Senior Content Acquisition Manager from Ancestry said: “The Publican Agreements are expected to be extremely beneficial to Irish people or those who haveIrish roots and want to find out more about their family history. The Agreements include the names and addresses of publicans in business with Jameson, shining a light on a niche group of people who were pillars of their communities. Being able to link an ancestor to a prominent Irish brand like Jameson could add colour to your family tree, beyond birth, marriage, and death records. We are delighted to be providing a free access period to help people make those personal discoveries.”

In 2021, Irish Distillers and Ancestry partnered to publish more than one million Jameson employee records containing detailed weekly wages books with employee names, as well as occupation, hours worked, and wages paid, spanning over 100 years from 1862 to 1969. The collection has been viewed thousands of times since it was launched on Ancestry.

Whiskey For Beginners

Understanding the various whiskey flavor profiles and how they were created will help you better understand whiskey and its diverse flavors. Following that, you’ll be able to pick whiskeys depending on your preferences. Although many businesses are now selling white whiskey, whiskey is a transparent liquid without any distinctive whiskey characteristics before it is placed …

(Credit: Josh Haslam/Wikimedia Commons CC BY 2.0

Although many businesses are now selling white whiskey, whiskey is a transparent liquid without any distinctive whiskey characteristics before it is placed in wood casks to age.

The pure spirit’s interaction with the wood initiates various fascinating processes, giving the product its unique flavors.

While there have been some attempts to speed up the aging process using cutting-edge scientific techniques, the time-tested aging method in oak casks is the only one that produces the end product that has been adored worldwide for centuries.

What gives whiskey its flavor?

Although whiskey’s contact with wood during maturation imparts most of its flavors and fragrances, processes undertaken before can also impact the end product’s flavor.

Where all of these flavor components originate from is now the big question. What gives whiskey its distinctive flavor?

1. Barley

The grain’s qualities will determine the quality of a whiskey. Barley frequently forms substances like Furan and Hexanal. The former has flavors similar to nutty caramel, while the latter has lemony grass flavors.

Barley can also develop and gain more flavor throughout the malting process. When barley is dried, the subsequent reaction can result in caramelization and sweet, toasted flavors. Some distilleries add smokey and medicinal overtones by drying barley with peat smoke.

2. Fermentation

Yeast does more than merely consume sugar and produce bubbles and alcohol as by-products. Fermentation produces many flavors, most notably the esters in your whiskey.

Shorter esters like ethyl lactate and ethyl acetate taste like butter and green apples, respectively. Some longer esters have a more significant impact on the texture rather than flavor. For instance, ethyl palmitate can give the whiskey you drink as you play blackjack on Ripper Casino a creamy or waxy texture.

Since different types of yeast have varying fermentation times and temperatures, it will ultimately result in varying concentrations of each compound hence different flavor profiles.

3. Distillation

While specific flavor profiles are created during the distillation process, this process’ primary function is to eliminate many flavors. The foreshots and feints—the first and last liquids to exit the still—are used to filter out less desirable esters and aldehydes as well as more hazardous alcohols like methanol.

A good distiller knows how to find the transition between these.

4. Casks

The ultimate flavor of the whiskey is significantly influenced by maturation. When alcohol is aged in oak barrels, new flavorings like cyclotene, eugenol and vanillin are added. Most Scotch whiskey casks will also have previously held a different beverage, leaving a distinct flavor mark on the whiskey.

Because oxygen impacts how chemicals form or degrade throughout maturation, an alcohol molecule can oxidize to make an aldehyde, which can then oxidize to form an acid. The latter can then mix with another alcohol molecule to form an ester, which can then combine to form another new flavor.

Whiskey mellows and develops with time through this continuous development and the evaporation of more volatile substances.

Due to this intricate maturation process, single malt has a wide range of flavor possibilities, which is also why the traditional combination of malted barley, yeast, water, and oak produces a distinct “Scotch” flavor.

In a nutshell, these reasons are why whisky tastes the way it does.

Whiskey types

What distinguishes a blended Scotch whisky from a single malt whisky? Or between a rye, a Tennessee whiskey, a bourbon, a whisky, and a whiskey?

In its broadest sense, “whiskey” refers to any alcoholic beverage made by distilling malt. Any grain that has been allowed to germinate, especially rye or barley, and then dried is considered malt. Malting refers to the technique used to create malt.

The word “whisky” or “whiskey” is usually used depending on where it was produced. While it is more frequently spelled with an “e” in the US and Ireland, it is spelled without an “e” in Scotland, Canada, Japan, and other countries.

The main differences between types of whiskey are down to these main things: the grain used, how long the whiskey has matured, the production process, and where the whiskey was made. The most common types of whiskey are.

Scotch – Scotland
Bourbon – USA
Irish Whiskey – Ireland
Canadian Whiskey – Canada
Japanese Whisky – Japan

Different flavor categories that whiskey falls under?

Whiskey has eight taste families, each of which has its subcategories. Finding complex notes in a whiskey is easier if you know even the names of these families. The families and their subcategories are as follows.

Fruity – Dried fruit, Cooked Fruit, Citric, Fresh Fruit,
Winey – Oily, Chocolate, Nutty, Sherries
Sulphuric – Vegetative, Sandy, Rubbery, Coal/Gas
Peaty – Mossy, Kippery, Medicinal, Smokey
Cereal – Husky, Yeasty, Malt Extract Cooked Mash
Woody – Toasted, Vanilla, New Wood, Old Wood
Floral – Fragrant, Leafy, Green House Hay-like
Feinty – Leatherly, Tobacco, Plastic, Sweaty

While some of these flavors may not seem appealing on their own, you’d be surprised at how unusual flavors may come together to make a great whiskey.

Additionally, it is also quite acceptable to start with whiskeys that have a more robust fruit flavor or deviate from it.

The bottom line

This information is great for someone who needs to learn more about whiskey. It is best to experiment with various flavor characteristics to determine what makes a good whiskey, but it all comes down to what you enjoy.

Kentucky’s Ocean Of Bourbon Rises To Record High

The number of Bourbon barrels in Kentucky reached a record 11.4 million in January, as the state’s signature industry marked its fourth consecutive year filling more than 2 million barrels – while paying $40 million in discriminatory barrel taxes, the highest amount in history. When you include other aging spirits, the state’s total inventory is …

When you include other aging spirits, the state’s total inventory is almost 12 million barrels – a monumental milestone in the storied 200-year history of Kentucky’s iconic Bourbon industry. The tax-assessed value of all barrels also hit an all-time high this year of $5.2 billion.

While barrel records are typically cause for celebration, the skyrocketing and punitive impact of aging barrel taxes is more a cause for concern, warned Eric Gregory, president of the non-profit Kentucky Distillers’ Association, which released the figures today.

“We’re thrilled that our homegrown and historic industry continues to flourish, but these numbers could have been much higher if Kentucky didn’t have a major barrier to entry for new distilleries in the form of this barrel tax,” Gregory said.

Kentucky remains the only place in the world that taxes aging barrels of spirits.

Since the beginning of the year, Kentucky has fallen to 12th in the country in the number of distilling operations, according to federal Tax & Trade Bureau (TTB) statistics. There are now more than 2,300 distilleries in all 50 states. Kentucky has fewer than 100.

In the last year, Kentucky ranked 29th in the country in the rate of adding new distilleries.

Kentucky’s share of distilleries nationwide has plummeted from a high of 24% to now just 6%, and Kentucky’s percentage of distilling jobs has dropped from 43% down to only 30%, even though the state crafts 95% of the world’s Bourbon.

“At the height of our signature spirit’s popularity, the proliferation of Bourbon distilleries outside of Kentucky should ring alarm bells for anyone who cares about this industry, its employees and its economic and tourism impact on the Commonwealth,” Gregory said.

In the last five years alone, barrel taxes have more than doubled, soaring 102%. Kentucky distillers are paying nearly $40 million in barrel taxes this year – $7 million more than last year – an unjust levy because the fine art of aging and maturation of Bourbon is critical to the production process.

“We are only asking to be treated like every other manufacturer in Kentucky – and possibly the world – whose goods are not taxed during the production process,” Gregory said. “Barrel taxes hamper growth, punish success and jeopardize the state’s ability to attract new distillers in the birthplace of Bourbon.”

The new production numbers are based on inventories reported as of Jan. 1, 2022, submitted to the Kentucky Department of Revenue for tax purposes and includes all distilling companies in Kentucky, the vast majority of which are KDA member distilleries.

Here are the specifics:

Total barrels of Bourbon: 11,406,135
Number of Bourbon barrels filled in 2021: 2,619,633
Total inventory including Bourbon and other spirits: 11,982,965
Assessed value on all barrels for tax purposes: $5,207,221,744

Kentucky Bourbon has seen tremendous growth since the turn of the century. Production skyrocketed 475% since 1999. The state’s aging Bourbon inventory has more than tripled during that time, while the tax-assessed value of all barrels is now $5.2 billion, a staggering $780 million increase over 2021.

The Bluegrass State continues to benefit from this amber wave, which now pours $9 billion each year into the Kentucky economy, sustains more than 22,500 jobs with an annual payroll topping $1.2 billion a year, and draws millions of affluent tourists from around the world to the Kentucky Bourbon Trail® experiences.

A key export, distilling has the state’s highest job spin-off factor among top manufacturers; buys at least 17 million bushels of corn and other grains every year, mostly from Kentucky farm families; and is currently investing more than $5.2 billion in new stills, warehouses, bottling lines, tourism experiences and more.

However, distilling also is the highest taxed among all large manufacturing industries in the Commonwealth, paying more than $285 million in local and state taxes every year. That’s $180 million more in taxes each and every year now than distillers paid a decade ago.

Kentucky distillers also pay over $1.8 billion in federal alcohol taxes, by far the most among any state.

Of the 11 states ahead of Kentucky in the number of distilleries, all but one license state (Washington) has a significantly lower spirits tax rate than Kentucky, Gregory said. Kentucky’s tax rate is $8.41 per bottle; California, which leads the nation in the number of distilleries, is $3.30.

“Not a coincidence,” Gregory said.

“We have proven, time and time again, that Bourbon is a great investment for Kentucky,” Gregory said. “But we cannot ignore the fact that more than 2,200 distilleries have made the business decision not to locate here, despite our rich traditions and ready-made infrastructure.”

Gregory said the time is now – when the industry is healthy – to eliminate artificial barriers to growth like the barrel tax, and to continue modernizing Kentucky’s archaic alcohol laws. He pointed to two recent studies that showed tequila has gained significant ground on American whiskey.

Just last week, data by Nielsen IQ shows that tequila sales have grown 70% since last year and agave spirits are now challenging whiskey and vodka in sales. IWSR Drinks Market Analysis said this year, for the first time ever, Americans will spend more money on mezcal and tequila than U.S.-made whiskey.

Gregory thanked the Kentucky General Assembly for creating a legislative task force that is exploring options to eliminate the barrel tax and minimize impacts on education and local communities. “We applaud this fair, open and objective process that is hearing from all stakeholders,” he said.

“It’s critical that distillers, community partners and elected officials work together to attract more distillers and investment to the Commonwealth, because there will come a day – hopefully not in our lifetimes – when Bourbon is not as popular as it is right now.

“It’s time for solutions. We must protect our distilling dominance. The future is in our hands.

The Most Expensive Scotch Whiskies In 2022

By Richard Thomas As American enthusiasts are left scratching their heads over exactly why even Sazerac Rye is so scarce that it’s now kept in locked cabinets at the liquor store, retail prices for limited edition whiskeys that should be scarce continue to spiral. Leaving inflation out of it, the kind of bourbon one would …

By Richard Thomas

The world’s most expensive whisky is also the oldest ever from Japan: Yamazaki 55
(Credit: Beam-Suntory)

As American enthusiasts are left scratching their heads over exactly why even Sazerac Rye is so scarce that it’s now kept in locked cabinets at the liquor store, retail prices for limited edition whiskeys that should be scarce continue to spiral. Leaving inflation out of it, the kind of bourbon one would trot out for Holiday guests is now priced between $200 and $500 as a matter of routine.

Even so, one need only look at the prices fetched by foreign bottles labeled “whisky” instead of “whiskey” to understand that American the stuff is still relatively cheap. So it was when we first looked at this subject six years ago, and the market for Scotch and Japanese whiskies has soared into the stratosphere since. For comparison, as I write this the most expensive retail price listed for an American whiskey is the $40,000 being asked for a bottle of Willet Single Barrel 22 Year Old Rye. Compare that to the Scotch whisky listed at the bottom of this Top Ten.

Here I will focus on items and prices listed for retail, not the sometimes insane prices commanded at auction. Also, I am looking only at individual bottles, and excluding collections. Wine Searcher is an excellent, free source of information on the subject of market value, or the actual prices being charged by retailers.

The World’s Ten Most Expensive Whiskies:

The Yamazaki 55 Year Old: $881,682
The Macallan Lalique 50 Year Old: $257,712
The Macallan Lalique 55 Year Old: $165,440
The Macallan Lalique 62 Year Old: $165,275
The Macallan ‘Tales of The Macallan Volume I’ 71 Year Old : $142,730
Bowmore Aston Martin Black Bowmore DB5: $126,637
The Macallan Lalique 72 Year Old: $130,748
The Macallan Red Collection 78 Year Old: $122,255
The Macallan 50 Year Old: $118,761
The Macallan Lalique VI 65 Year Old: $107,435

What has changed since 2016. The first salient fact is that an ultra-aged, Japanese whisky sits at the top of the list: Yamazaki 55 Year Old, with a retail price approaching the one million dollar mark. The listed retail price is three times greater than the runner-up. Released in 2020 in a run of merely 100 bottles, this is the oldest whisky ever released by Suntory, and is generally billed as the oldest Japanese whisky (of any source) to date.

The Macallan in Lalique 72 year Old Single Malt
(Credit: Edrington)

Another thing that has changed is the price range represented overall. Even excluding the Yamazaki 55, I was not exaggerating earlier when I used the term “stratosphere.” The most expensive whisky on the list in 2016 was The Macallan Lalique 50 Year Old at $69,298; that bottle now commands $257, 712. Furthermore, the most expensive whisky in 2016 held a price tag that lags some 40 grand behind what the cheapest whisky on this list commands.

Of course, The Macallan–and their Lalique series in particular–continues to dominate the Top Ten. Interestingly, of the three bottles not named Macallan that made it into the Top Ten back then, only one even cracks the Top Twenty-Five today: The Balvenie 50 Year Old, which now commands $42,753, up from $34,044. It’s worth remembering that in a list dominated by The Macallan, even retail prices are driven to a large extent by the sacks of cash fetched at auction. The Balvenie 50 Year Old, however, is not so regularly seen at auction, so it’s price increase is probably a better reflection of retail realities.

“American Single Malt” Is Almost An Official Thing

By Richard Thomas An inside joke in the booze writing trade is how made-in-America single malt whiskeys have been the “next big thing” for …., oh, the last several years. Don’t get me wrong: American-made malts have become a vibrant part of the national whiskey scene, and I for one applaud how it is a …

By Richard Thomas

St. George American Malt Whiskey, Lot 21
(Credit: Richard Thomas)

An inside joke in the booze writing trade is how made-in-America single malt whiskeys have been the “next big thing” for …., oh, the last several years. Don’t get me wrong: American-made malts have become a vibrant part of the national whiskey scene, and I for one applaud how it is a part dominated by small and mid-sized producers. That said, when an informed reader sees that tired, old headline, rolls her eyes and cackles “Oh really?”, she is in the right. U.S. malts just haven’t arrived in the same way rye whiskey did more than a decade ago, at least not yet.

Yet that bit of dusty media hype took a step closer to becoming reality this summer, when the Federal Alcohol and Tobacco Tax and Trade Bureau (TTB) formally proposed creating a category for American Single Malts, defining and enshrining just what that designation should be. These whiskeys might not be the new big thing in drinks yet, but they are poised to finally arrive, and arrive in style.

The Federal Proposal
On July 29, the TTB published Notice 213 of Proposed Rulemaking, which is basically how they announce their intent and proposal for revising Federal regulations. The particular regulation is 27 CFR part 5, governing whiskey. The amendment would grant American Single Malt Whiskey a formal standard of identity, giving it a name that can be protected in court, and formally establish what the category is and is not.

According to the TTB, the amendment requires of American Single Malt Whiskey: “the product must be distilled entirely at one U.S. distillery, and must be mashed, distilled, aged in the United States. The product also must be sourced from a fermented mash of 100% malted barley, at a distillation proof of 160° or less, and stored in oak barrels not exceeding 700 liters. In addition, allowable coloring, flavoring, and blending materials would be permitted.”

Westland Distillery’s barrel room with some of that Oregon oak
(Credit: Westland Distillery)

How We Got Here
The start of all of this is with the craft distilling movement and a simple rule that so many of them apply in their business models: go where the big players aren’t. Many drinkers are already familiar with malt whiskeys through the Scotch, Irish and Japanese brands, yet to this day the only regular release, malt whiskey brand produced by a big distiller is the blue-labeled Woodford Reserve Malt.

It has always been a ripe sector for smaller producers. This is so much the case that one of the examples of “craft whiskey before there was craft whiskey,” St. George Spirits, has been making American Single Malt for over two decades. Stranahan’s, a craft whiskey trailblazer whose first product reached shelves in 2006, has never made anything but malt whiskey. Whenever someone speaks of American Malts, that person usually references a bottle made by a small or mid-sized distiller located in a state that isn’t Kentucky or Tennessee, and often malt whiskey is all that distiller makes. Malt whiskey and the small producer-driven, broader and truly national identity of craft distilling have been intertwined not just from day one, but since before day one.

An American Malt category has existed for decades, but it doesn’t accurately describe what the makers of American Single Malt produce or the reputation they hope to achieve. The current regulatory code describes American Malts as a cousin of bourbon, rye and wheat whiskeys, in that all four are defined by new oak barrel aging and by having a mash content of 51% or greater of their primary grain. So, all four of these whiskeys–bourbon, rye, malt and wheat–are aged in charred, new oak barrels and can have a mash bill containing more than one grain.

That rule called for American Malts to be quintessentially, well, very American. However, the craft producers most committed to malt whiskey are more interested in fitting in with/competing with single malts as the rest of the world and many American drinkers already know them: the malts coming from Scotland, Ireland and Japan, as well as the growing sector of world whiskeys from new producers in places like Australia, India and Sweden. The idea is to bring American characteristics to the international standard of what a single malt is, rather than make a bourbon-ized single malt.

Balcones, Copperworks, FEW Spirits, Santa Fe Spirits, Triple Eight Distillery, Virginia Distilling, Westland and Westward banded together to form the American Single Malt Whiskey Commission (ASMW) in 2016. This organization has since grown to more than 70 members. AMSW, joined by the Distilled Spirits Council of the US (DISCUS), has been advocating for a Federal standard covering American single malts that would mirror the international standard. The TTB’s proposed new standard is effectively the same as the standard first proposed by AMSW some seven years ago.

The Stranahan’s fans gather for Snowflake 2018
(Credit: Richard Thomas)

What The New Standard Means
The two main distinctions between the American Malt as it currently exists and what American Single Malt would be underline this desired move towards international single malt standards. First, single malts around the world are made with 100% malted barley. American law certainly allows producers to use a 100% malted barley mash, but only requires 51% or greater. Any malt whiskey made with less than 100% malted barley wouldn’t be recognized as a single malt by drinkers either in the U.S. or abroad, and the lack of clarity creates confusion for anyone trying to make the distinction.

Second, world malts are also overwhelmingly, but not exclusively, aged in used casks. In Scotland, for example, new oak (often referred to as “virgin” in their industry) isn’t unheard of, but ex-bourbon barrels and hogsheads made from ex-bourbon barrel staves are the most common type of cask used to mature whisky. Running second behind the ex-bourbon stock are old wine casks of various types. Although the use of new oak is a signature of the American whiskey-making style, it’s exclusive use would be a straight jacket on the sector. Again, AMSW members aren’t seeking to make bourbon-ized malt whiskey, but American single malt peers of the foreign whiskies.

Other requirements are a blend of American rules (cannot distill above 160 proof) and recognizable single malt standards (must be made entirely at one distillery). A common international standard missing from any American proposal is a minimum three year maturation period.

What It Does Not Do
Importantly, the new regulation would not eliminate the American Malt category as it already exists; Woodford Reserve Malt and other craft products with a mixed, but mostly malt barley mash bill can go on as they currently exist. The proposal specifically states “TTB notes that distillers currently using the designations “malt whisky,” “American malt whisky,” “whisky distilled from malt mash,” or “American whisky distilled from malt mash” on their labels may continue to do so.”

Woodford Reserve Malt Whiskey
(Credit: Brown-Forman)

Little confusion should arise regarding the difference between “American Malt” and “American Single Malt,” because this distinction already exists in the international whiskey industry as a whole. Blends of malt whiskies–double malts, triple malts, vatted malts–are out there and well understood by the world’s drinking public. The odd consumer may misunderstand that Parker’s Heritage 8 Year Old Malt Whiskey isn’t a single malt, but American Single Malts have already been a trade and marketing term for seven years now. The categories already exist and are already separate, but merely remain informal.

What Comes Next
The new proposal is open to feedback from the public and industry until September 27, and it is worth noting that no one in the industry has ever come out in public opposition to the new regulation. It stands to reason that, lacking any real opposition, the new single malt regulation will be adopted. So, expect to see American Single Malt enshrined as an official category by next year.

Japanese Whisky 101

By Richard Thomas Whenever I want a short explanation for the roots of modern whisky-making, I say it originated with the Irish and Scots, and was carried by immigrants from those places to the United States and Canada. That covers four of the five major whisky-making countries.The Japanese, on the other hand, don’t fit into …

By Richard Thomas

(Credit: Hirotomo T/CC by SA 2.0)

Whenever I want a short explanation for the roots of modern whisky-making, I say it originated with the Irish and Scots, and was carried by immigrants from those places to the United States and Canada. That covers four of the five major whisky-making countries.The Japanese, on the other hand, don’t fit into that neat, fairly accurate tale. They consciously adopted whisky-making as part of their push towards modernization in the late 19th and early 20th Century, a time when the Japanese were adopting many Western affectations. Although it is said Japan began making whiskey in the 1870s, it was some decades after that when these efforts became substantial and recognizable, and two men were instrumental in making it so. The work of this pair continue to have a dominant influence over Japanese Whisky to this day, because they left us with the industry’s two dominant companies: Suntory and Nikka.

Japan’s Founding Duo
The first of these was Shinjiro Torii, born in 1879 in Osaka and trained as a pharmacist’s apprentice. While working for a pharmaceutical wholesaler in his teens, Torii became familiar with Western spirits and began teaching himself the art of blending. In 1899, he set up the Torii Shoten shop and launched Akadama Sweet Wine. Torii’s real ambition, however, was to make whisky in Japan. This led him to found The Yamazaki Distillery in 1923, and launch Japan’s first entirely domestic whisky, Suntory White Label.

The Yamazaki Distillery
(Credit: Motokoka/CC by SA 4.0)

The other man is Masataka Taketsuru, born in 1894 in Hiroshima to a family of long standing in the sake brewing trade. Shinjiro Torii was largely self-taught, and for much of his company’s expertise, he had to rely on hired experts. Taketsuru was one such expert.

Masataka Taketsuru was sent by a company called Settsu Shuzo to Scotland specifically to study whisky-making, and bring that knowledge back to Japan. He first studied chemistry at the University of Glasgow in 1918. Next, he took an internship at Longmorn and then Bo’Ness distilleries in 1919, and learned whisky-making first-hand from leaders of the industry. Some accounts say he interned at a third distillery. He even married a Scotswoman, Rita.

In 1920, the pair moved to Japan, but in the meantime an economic downturn had forced Settsu Shuzo to abandon their plans to start a whisky distillery. Thus, Taketsuru and his unique base of experience were picked up by Torii and the company that would become Suntory in 1923, as the Yamazaki Distillery was under construction.

After spending 10 years building up Suntory, would go on to found his own distillery, Yoichi, in 1934. Upon that foundation, he launched his whisky brand six years later: Nikka. Taketsuru wasn’t the first, but he is widely referred to as the “Father of Japanese Whisky,” a just title when one considers his fingerprints are all over Japan’s first distillery, and he then went on to found its second major whisky company.

The Twin Pillars Of Japanese Whisky

Nikka From The Barrel
(Credit: Richard Thomas)

Nikka and Suntory have become the two goliaths of Japanese Whisky. There are other producers, but that comparison is like comparing Old Potrero to Jim Beam. Suntory owns the aforementioned Yamazaki, Hakushu and Chita. Nikka owns Yoichi and Miyagikyo. Outside this pair of companies are Akkeshi (owned by a grocery wholesaler), Chichibu (founded by the grandson of the distiller of the defunct Hanyu Distillery), Fuji Gotemba, owned by Kirin Breweries (also owner of Four Roses Bourbon), Kurayoshi and Shinshu Mars.

A idiosyncratic feature of Japan’s business culture and economy is the keiretsu, an interlocking alliance of firms centered on a bank. These keiretsu are a post-war phenomenon; before the Second World War, even more tightly integrated zaibatsu were the norm. The idea here is that whenever possible, Japanese business culture encourages a company to do everything it can in-house or at least in-alliance; when it can’t vertically integrate everything under one roof, it builds the roof out in these alliances.

This culture can be seen in the way Japanese whisky-making consolidated mostly into two major companies, and how those two companies organized their business. Compare the Japanese industry to the Irish industry up until about 2010. Japan had two large firms and a few small ones; Ireland had three large firms. In Ireland, those firms often quietly traded whiskey stock between each other and sold stock to independent parties; in Japan, there is no such sharing and never has been. All the stock Suntory uses to make it’s products come from within the company, so that stock must necessarily cover a wide spectrum of profiles. This is a reflection of both industry rivalries and the insular nature of keiretsu culture.

As a result, Nikka and Suntory evolved, rather by accident, into a hybrid of the different ways the whiskey industry is organized around the world. Compare Suntory or Nikka to William Grant & Sons, for example. Insofar as their Scotch operations go, the company produces single malt and grain whiskies from a handful of distilleries, such as The Glenfiddich. In this respect, the Japanese whisky company is superficially similar.

Yamazaki Sherry Cask Japanese Whisky 2016

(Credit: Kurt Maitland)

William Grant & Sons draws on a wider array of whiskies for making blends like Grant’s, however, whereas Japanese companies work entirely in-house. As a result, a Japanese distillery doesn’t have a “house style” in the way that a Scottish one does; the closest equivalent would be a large American or Canadian distillery, where a variety of styles are made in-house, only moreso. The Americans and Canadians may do more in-house, they do not pursue industrial autarky the way the Japanese do.

Lawless Japan
Another interesting quirk of Japanese Whisky is that, until 2021, there was no law or regulation defining just what the drink was and was not. Even now, there isn’t really a Japanese Whisky Law. However, the Japanese Spirits & Liqueur Makers Association has enacted a code of standards, effective for members of the trade group. Although Nikka and Suntory were not known to do this, other brands have incorporated whiskies made outside Japan and Japanese, not-whisky spirits like shochu into their products. Thus, some Japanese whiskies had more in common with Indian whiskies, which often incorporate imported whiskies or a domestic, rum-like spirit into their blends. A transitional grace period is currently in effect, closing in 2024.

How Buffalo Trace Made Itself Scare

Buffalo Trace Has Kept Its Prices Artificially Low For Years. Has It Helped Or Hurt Consumers? By Richard Thomas Although the Buffalo Trace Antique Collection (BTAC) and Pappy Van Winkle have enjoyed such demand that one needed to put their name on a waiting list to get a bottle as far back as 20 years …

Buffalo Trace Has Kept Its Prices Artificially Low For Years. Has It Helped Or Hurt Consumers?

By Richard Thomas

Buffalo Trace Distillery
(Credit: Joana Thomas)

Although the Buffalo Trace Antique Collection (BTAC) and Pappy Van Winkle have enjoyed such demand that one needed to put their name on a waiting list to get a bottle as far back as 20 years ago, it is only in the last several years that the distillery’s normal products became scarce commodities. In my mind, that transition to all their whiskeys becoming scarce began in 2014, when the late Josh Ozersky dubbed W.L. Weller 12 Year Old “Baby Pappy,” thereby expanding the gathering Pappy Fever to include Buffalo Trace’s other wheated bourbons. Perhaps it was inevitable that this would happen, but demand for all things named Weller grew exponentially after that.

The peculiar thing was that even as first Weller 12 Year Old and then all other expressions named W.L. Weller disappeared from store shelves, the official prices on those products didn’t change. When Ozersky wrote his article, Weller 12 Year Old was just $26 a bottle. Make no mistake, the price has risen steadily over the years, and is now officially set at $40. However, that is just keeping pace with inflation and costs; the market value of Weller 12 is far, far higher. The official price bears no visible connection to what people are willing to pay for a bottle.

Think a trade war will bring back Weller 12? Guess again.
(Credit: Sazerac)

It’s Not Really The Secondary Market
“Market value” is a term I use to describe what one would pay a retailer to acquire said bottle on demand; it does not refer to the unofficial and illegal secondary market. About four years ago, this market price of Weller 12 was $150 a bottle, on par with the official price of a bottle of Michter’s 10 Year Old Single Barrel Rye and Bourbon and other, similar expressions in its class. Which is to say, four times its official price. Today, that market value has risen to almost ten times more than the official price point, to $382.

In time, this gap between Buffalo Trace’s official prices and the actual market value spread to their other products, and then continued to widen. Blanton’s disappeared from store shelves a couple of years ago; the official price is $65, while the market value is $150. Lately, even Buffalo Trace Bourbon–a product that straddles the line between premium and mass market whiskeys, in much the same way that Knob Creek, Elijah Craig and Woodford Reserve do–has sometimes been scarce on store shelves and commands a market value approximately the same as the official pricing on Weller 12!

Several years ago, the secondary market had a lot to do with this growing gap between what prices were supposed to be and what people actually paid. 2015 or so was a time when having a good relationship with your liquor store owner, waiting lists or winning a lottery could score one a much sought after bottle, and most who managed that score promptly turned around and flogged that bottle on Facebook or Reddit for whatever that black market would bear. It’s been a long time now since that scenario was the driver of exploding prices; the collectors with deep pockets continue to play their part at the gas pedal, but on the sales side it’s the retailers themselves (and possibly the distributors) who have taken over the steering and gear stick.

Back in the day, enthusiasts celebrated Buffalo Trace’s near-frozen prices, writing posts in forums about working connections to acquire a bottle of George T. Stagg for just $70 became part of the bourbon culture. But did that policy of keeping the official price artificially low actually help the consumer, either then or in the long run? My answer, then and now, is no. It did not.

Blanton’s Gold Edition
(Credit: Richard Thomas)

Price Controls And Economics
Bourbon enthusiasts have gained some experience with an economics tool that most Americans have no direct knowledge of: price controls. In a free market, supply and demand are regulated by pricing. As demand outstrips supply, prices rise until an equilibrium is reached. By and large, that is how most whiskey companies operate, and the reason one has seen the prices on their limited edition items rise steadily and sharply in recent years.

Not so with Buffalo Trace, which has instead instituted a de facto price control regime on their most sought after products. Today, if anyone is familiar with price controls, it is as a dim memory from the Nixon Administration or in the form of rent control; a price is set artificially low to cushion the consumer from what would otherwise be high prices. But realize rent controlling some apartments inevitably makes those apartments that are not rent controlled more expensive, and Nixon’s price controls are widely regarded as a failure.

In much the same way as with rent control, price controls on commodities deepen a shortage by leaving demand uncurbed. Whereas rising prices discourage demand for all but essential goods (“essential” meaning food, water, etc.), frozen prices often achieve the reverse. All the textbook outcomes of a price control regime, such as black market trading (i.e., the secondary market) and rampant shortages, are plain to see with so many Buffalo Trace brands now. Recall that this shortage of almost everything coming out of Buffalo Trace has taken place despite major expansions in production output going back a decade, and what has happened in the retail market to Buffalo Trace’s product line is unique to that distillery. Thanks to a combination of pricing what the market will bear and expanded production, the other Kentucky and Tennessee majors (large distilleries) are relatively on top of the demand of their products.

In 2015, many pundits wrote about a bourbon shortage that wasn’t real, while praising Buffalo Trace’s artificially low prices. Now there really is shortage, and for that one distillery’s products, and the two things are in no way a coincidence. That speculators and hoarders have turned everything named Weller, Taylor, Blanton’s and perhaps even Buffalo Trace Bourbon itself into a collectible is an outcome one could have gleaned in an Economics 102 textbook.