Today is the final day of SEVEN DAYS OF AMERICAN SINGLE MALT WHISKEYS, a series to celebrate the innovative, creative, and talented distillers making American Single Malt Whiskey across the nation.

It’s been two days since the U.S. Tax & Trade Bureau’s ratification of American Single Malt Whiskey officially went into effect. That means we’re now standing (and sipping) in the future of whiskey, where barley is just as respected in American spirit production as corn and rye.

The seven distilleries and spirits I’ve featured over the last week are not, in any way, the be-all and end-all of ASMW. None were the first ASMW, and they may or may not be the “best” (though that ranking is inherently subjective). These seven whiskeys just happened to be in my cabinet at the right moment, some because of familiarity and others as a result of curiosity.

There are many other ASMWs I still have yet to try or, even if I’ve tried them, to purchase in a full bottle. Distribution is one of the biggest challenges still to overcome for American Single Malt Whiskey. Many of the producers representing the best of the category are still largely considered “craft” distillers; they’re doing a lot with limited resources, and crossing state lines to expand their general distribution is no small task.

We can only hope that the legitimization of the category will increase awareness and demand for American-made single malt whiskeys, thereby also increasing access. If you have an ASMW you love, whether enjoyed locally or discovered on your own whiskey journey, drop a comment over on Instagram. Let’s talk about it! And, even more, let’s share the gift of those recommendations with the whisky enthusiasts of the world.

(Shameless plug: if you’re an ASMW producer and want to send me a bottle to try and share, I’ll also happily trade my two cents—that is, my honest opinion and some pretty photography—for a tipple.)

Let’s dive into the final dram of the week: the Single Malt Whiskey from St. George Spirits.

This was a fun whiskey to close out the series. Like the Peated Single Malt from 10th Street Distillery, I knew nothing about this bottle when I purchased it (on the same very expensive Total Wine trip as the Balcones Single Barrel store pick). I had, in passing, heard of St. George Spirits, but I wasn’t familiar with their whiskey, or opinions of their whiskey, in anyway.

Curiosity may have killed the cat, but he’s not allowed to drink whiskey anyway.

Each batch of St. George’s single malt whiskeys is available only as a limited annual release. It’s produced in Alameda, California, and the fact that I found a bottle on the shelf at all is a slight miracle. Sometimes it’s helpful to be a single malt enthusiast in a world of bourbon bros. But this bottle also sat on the shelf for a few years, ready and waiting for my eager cart to roll by.

I purchased the whiskey in 2024, but the bottle came from the distillery’s 21st batch of single malt, as indicated by “SM021” printed in small red text.

St. George released their first batch of ASMW in 2000, and they’re currently on number 24. As the batch numbers appear to correspond with the year of release, this bottle like came out in 2021.

Old or new, I’ll take it. This distillery has been making single malt whiskeys for 25 years, and I’m excited to try anything I can get my hands on.

On the nose, I immediately get a hit of sweet, slightly over-ripened green apples. There’s a slight grainy grassiness too, like walking in a farmer’s field after the rain. Yesterday when I originally opened the bottle I noted it as a little funkier than I do today; I poured another small bit this afternoon to refresh my tasting memory, and found the initial punch softened.

I guess that’s my reminder to try my whiskeys at various times; our senses vary throughout the day and week, depending on a number of factors.

On the palate, the same bright fruit flavor leads the way, but it’s rounded out with a creamy nuttiness. There’s a punch on the back end, as the whiskey takes a sharp upward swing in flavor before fading into a gentle finish. It’s unlike any other single malt whiskey I’ve tried, and that appears to be by design.

Being an older release, St. George doesn’t currently have a lot of details about Batch 21 online, but a review from the Whiskey Wash helped to answer a lot of questions.

For one, the whiskey is made with several barley varietals, including “various roast levels of two-row barley sourced from Wisconsin (pale malt, crystal malt, chocolate malt, black patent malt) and German Bamberg malt (unroasted barley smoked over beech and alder wood).” Batch 21 included whiskeys aged for 4.5 to 10 years.

Even more remarkably, those component were selected and drawn from 26 different casks. Every release of St. George Spirits’ Single Malt Whiskeys is similar in its variety, each one a blend of whiskeys stored in a diversity of cask styles and prior uses. The thread of continuity between batches is held only in the hands of the distillery’s distiller and blender, who builds a creative composition from an expansive library of whiskey casks held in the distillery’s rackhouse.

Batch 21 is unexpected and fascinating. I don’t know if it’s the whiskey I’ll reach for at the end of a long day when I want something familiar and true. Instead it’s a sipper worthy of time, space, and consideration. It’s philosophy, waiting to be examined from every angle.

Good thing I was a philosophy major.

Slàinte, y’all!

In My Glass

Single Malt Whiskey

St. George Spirits – Alameda, California

43% ABV; Est. Age 4+ Years

On My Desk

Royal Quiet De Luxe