Tag: Seven Days of ASMW

  • Seven Days of ASMW 2025 // Courage & Conviction by Virginia Distillery

    Seven Days of ASMW 2025 // Courage & Conviction by Virginia Distillery

    There are only five days left until the U.S. Tax & Trade Bureau’s ratification of American Single Malt Whiskey goes into effect. If you’ve been following along around here or on The Whisky Type Instagram account, you know that we’ve been celebrating since Sunday, counting down to January 19 with Seven Days of American Single Malt Whiskeys.

    Today is Day Three of the countdown. You can find Day One (Stryker American Single Malt Whiskey by Andalusia Whiskey Co.) and Day Two (Westland Beer Cask Finish American Single Malt Whiskey) in the archives.

    Our chosen spirit this afternoon is a little bit different than the first two. It’s an American Single Malt, of course, but this particular distillery prefers the e-exclusionary spelling of whisky. Plus, it’s not just one bottle we’re opening. It’s four.

    (Don’t worry, they’re all small.)

    We’re cracking into a lovely four-pack of Courage & Conviction, the American Single Malt Whisky from Virginia Distillery Co.

    As one of the founding members of the American Single Malt Whiskey Commission, Virginia Distillery has been making its 100% malted barley whiskies in the Blue Ridge Mountains since 2011. The name Courage & Conviction comes from their late founder, Dr. George G. Moore, and his oft-repeated expression, “Have the courage of your convictions.”

    Courage & Conviction is not a singular whiskey. It’s a brand, a range, and a varied experience, all rooted in the same core values: malted barley and natural Blue Ridge spring water.

    I first tried Courage & Conviction last February while attending the ASMWC’s convention in Denver. If memory (which is a little fuzzy after quite a bit of whiskey and time), I tried the single barrel Cuvée Cask expression—and loved it.

    I wanted to know more, and particularly to experience the Courage & Conviction’s core range of whiskies. Back in July, I ordered the four pack featured here along with a full-sized bottle of the Signature Malt whisky. Thanks to a shipping issue, a quick email, and a follow-up phone call, I found myself attending the Bourbon Women Sip-osium as a guest of the distillery a month later.

    And they say drinking whiskey won’t get you anywhere in life.

    Virginia Distillery’s afternoon event during the Sip-osium took me and several other guests to Clayton & Crume, an artisan leather shop in Louisville. We drank, we snacked, and we made leather sleeves to fit on rocks glasses, each one embossed with the Courage & Conviction logo.

    More importantly, we learned about the art of blending from Virginia Distillery’s Lead Blender, Amanda Beckwith.

    The core range of Courage & Conviction consists of four whiskies, each 46% ABV and aged for a minimum of four years. The difference lies in their finishing. There’s the Bourbon Cask, the Cuvée Cask, and the Sherry Cask. The fourth core whisky, Signature Malt, is a blend of the other three.

    You can buy each ready-made expression on its own, or pick up a 50 ml sampler like I did. And you could drink them as they come, sipping on each separately.

    But Virginia Distillery has a unique approach to their consumer engagement strategy, which might change how you enjoy their whisky: this is a distillery that believes in audience participation.

    The sampler pack of Courage & Conviction whiskies comes with a QR code. You can scan it to enjoy a virtual tasting experience with Amanda, deepening your experience of each sip.

    Plus, with each of the three core component whiskies on hand, whisky enthusiasts can create their own blend of Courage & Conviction, selecting the specific amounts of each component whisky to include in their glass. Sometimes, whisky fans like me can even order a bottle of their own unique blend. This special offering, called The Draftsman, comes with a special label indicating the percentages of each whisky contained within. It also bears the name of the person who “drafted” it.

    Let me just say from experience: it’s really cool to see your own name on a bottle of whisky.

    My version of The Draftsman is 40% bourbon cask; 20% cuvée cask, and 40% sherry cask. I chose and ordered that particular blend in Louisville. After telling us about the distillery’s history and the basics of her trade, Amanda gave each of us small amounts of the three base whiskies along with pipettes, a place to take notes, and instructions to play.

    As someone who was never really into science, it was the most fun I’ve ever had with a pipette. The fact that I was sampling my experimental blends along the way probably helped.

    Unfortunately, I can’t find The Draftsman on the Courage & Conviction website right now, but that doesn’t mean you can’t blend your own at home if you have all the necessary parts. Plus, VA Distillery’s audience participation options don’t stop there. They also offer a free online education program to learn more about American Single Malt Whiskey, called the ASM Academy.

    Oh, and how are the whiskies? Fantastic.

    The Bourbon Cask is light and creamy, with hints of vanilla and malt a pinch of spice. The Cuvée Cask is comparatively dark and rich, digging deeper into the baking cabinet to pull out notes of brown sugar and even more spice. The Sherry Cask hits the tongue with a bold blend of fruit and leather. The Signature Malt pulls notes from all three, with a gentle layering of flavor that has earned it several 90+ point ratings.

    The good news is this: for an amateur blender…you pretty much can’t go wrong drinking or mixing these whiskies.

    Sláinte, y’all!

    In My Glass(es)

    Courage & Conviction American Single Malt Whiskies

    Bourbon Cask, Cuvée Cask, Sherry Cask, and Signature Malt

    Virginia Distillery Co. – Lovingston, Virginia

    46% ABV; Min. 4 Years

    On My Desk

    A still-new-to-me Royal Quiet De Luxe in its dining room debut.

  • Seven Days of ASMW 2025 // Westland Beer Cask Finish

    Seven Days of ASMW 2025 // Westland Beer Cask Finish

    Just six days to go until American Single Malt Whiskey goes into effect as an official TTB category!

    Today is Day Two of SEVEN DAYS OF AMERICAN SINGLE MALT WHISKEYS, my personal celebration of this momentous occasion and the amazing ASMW whiskeys being produced from coast to coast.

    If you missed it, you can find Day 1, featuring Stryker by Andalusia Whiskey Co., here.

    Today, I pulled out—and freshly uncorked—a bottle of Westland Beer Cash Finish American Single Malt Whiskey, Batch No. 1.

    I visited Westland Distillery‘s Seattle-area headquarters about three years ago, and have had a soft spot for the distillery ever since. It was the first time I really got a sense of the community of whiskey, and especially the community among ASMW distillers and fans. I was working as a tour guide at Whiskey Del Bac at the time, and I casually mentioned it when we arrived, just to say how excited I was to be there.

    The distillery didn’t yet have tours up and running after COVID, but my companion and I were immediately treated to a mini tour of the facilities, even taking a tiny sip of still-developing whiskey products in the distillery’s lab. Two weeks later, when our impromptu tour guide happened to be in Tucson, I connected her with my colleagues to ensure she got the same warm welcome.

    We walked out at the end of the visit with two bottles: their flagship ASMW (the original version) and a “Cask Exploration” bottle featuring whiskey aged in a cask that previously held Redhook Brewery’s Stratosphere Barley Wine Beer.

    The distillery has grown and changed significantly since then, sharpening their focus on a refreshed core range of whiskeys in 2024. I got to revisit the Flagship Single Malt with my whiskey advent calendar in December, but I also recently picked up this bottle of Beer Cask Finish American Single Malt Whiskey.

    According to the label, this whiskey “celebrates the Pacific Northwest’s long tradition of craft brewing by integrating saison, stout, scotch ale, and doppelbock casks” to finish the whiskey. A total of seven different breweries partnered with Westland to provide (or perhaps return) barrels for the inaugural batch.

    There’s no age statement on the bottle, but the distillery notes a minimum age of 8 years, more than double the Flagship’s 40 months.

    At first sip, it’s whiskey, malty and true with hints of fruit and vanilla. Of course, it’s whiskey all the way through, but the finish? Oh man, that’s a saison. It’s been a long time since I’ve had a saison beer, but that crisp, lingering, straight-from-the-earth influence is absolutely unmistakable.

    It’s nuanced, layered, and delicious. It’s also a whiskey that could only be “thoughtfully produced” in the PNW, crafted and infused with the terroir and culture of that region.

    Sláinte, y’all!

    In My Glass

    Westland Beer Cask Finish American Single Malt Whiskey, Batch No. 1

    Westland Distillery (Birmingham, Washington)

    46% ABV; 8+ Years Old

    American Single Malt Whiskey

    On My Desk

    Remington Noiseless Model Seven

    Manual Typewriter

    c. 1946

  • Seven Days of ASMW 2025 // Stryker by Andalusia Whiskey Co.

    Seven Days of ASMW 2025 // Stryker by Andalusia Whiskey Co.

    The Tax & Trade Bureau’s official definition of American Single Malt Whiskey goes into effect on January 19, 2025—just one week from today. As most whiskey people already know, the category’s ratification was announced in December. It marks the first new American whiskey category defined by the TTB in more than half a century.

    For ASMW distillers, this ruling is monumental. It marks a coming of age, placing American single malt whiskeys at the proverbial table alongside the long-established categories of bourbon and rye.

    The ruling is equally important for American Single Malt Whiskey enthusiasts. The publicity, momentum, and legitimacy made possible through this ruling is expected to increase interest, access, and production of ASMW across the country and the world.

    A rising tide lifts all boats, as they say.

    I am excited to see where the ASMW category goes in the coming months and years. The distillers who pioneered and defined this category are already known for their innovation and their grit. Despite being an underrated, unofficial, and largely unknown category for decades, ASMW distillers have persevered to craft incredible spirits out of equal parts barley malt and passion.

    To celebrate the elevation of ASMW to official status, I’m counting down to January 19 in the best way possible: with whiskey. Today kicks off a brief series I’m calling Seven Days of American Single Malt Whiskeys. Over the next week, I”ll be opening, drinking, and enjoying a different ASMW every single day.

    As a note, these are all whiskeys currently residing in my liquor cabinet. A couple of the bottles are already open, known, and loved. Several, however, are not yet familiar. They were purchased but not yet uncorked and explored.

    Today’s selection falls in the former category, as a whiskey that has become a near-daily drinker over the last several months: Stryker Texas Smoked Single Malt Whiskey from Andalusia Whiskey Co.

    I received my first bottle of Stryker a little over a year ago as a thank you gift for dog sitting. It took me several months to open it (largely due to my cross-country move). The bottle’s contents have steadily dwindled, doled out into regular drams, since then.

    I absolutely love this whiskey.

    Stryker is produced in Blanco, Texas, a small town in the state’s picturesque Hill Country. I spent my 20s in the nearby city of Austin, and so I felt a connection to this whiskey before even pouring it into the glass. The distillery opened a year after I left Texas, and so the connection is definitely not direct, but sentimentality is real, y’all.

    If there’s anything Texas knows, it’s flavor. The state is renowned for its barbecue, with an emphasis on smoked meats and brisket so juicy it melts in your mouth. Even this mostly-vegetarian was known to pick at a pile of BBQ’d meats back in the day.

    Stryker draws on this tradition, kilning its malted barley over a fire of oak, apple, and mesquite woods to produce a unique flavor profile rich with the terroir and culinary traditions of Central Texas.

    The resulting spirit is double-distilled and aged for three years in charred oak casks, which impart a sweetness to balance and introduce the heavy smoke flavor. It stands up at a respectable 50% ABV in the bottle, with a rich mahogany color.

    For me, every sip is transportation, taking me back to late nights in the honky tonk bars of Austin. That city is where I learned to love whiskey and to two-step, tripping over a pair of boot-clad left feet while the smoke of an outdoor barbecue lingered in the air.

    My nostalgia aside, the whiskey is well respected in its own regard. In 2021, Whiskey Advocate awarded the whiskey an enviable score of 93 points, placing it near the top of a pile of incredible American single malt whiskeys.

    Stryker has quickly become one of my favorite whiskeys. It’s also one of the first options I offer to ASMW-curious friends when they visit my home and whiskey cabinet. Unfortunately, that means that my bottle is now just a quarter full, and the end is looming.

    Because I’ve put myself on a whiskey-buying diet in 2025, I can’t replace the bottle just yet.

    Anybody need a dog sitter?

    In the Glass

    Stryker Texas Smoked Single Malt Whiskey

    Andalusia Whiskey Co. (Blanco, Texas)

    50% ABV; 3 Years Old

    American Single Malt Whiskey

    On the Table

    1962 Smith Corona Skyriter Manual Typewriter

    Made in England