There’s never a wrong time to shine a light on the superb collection of American whiskey we stock. But given both the Election and Thanksgiving are fast approaching, now seems like a particularly right one – so much so that we’re taking part in #AmericanWhiskeyGiving, a little hashtag campaign to promote the beauty of small-batch bourbon, rye and other barrel-aged grain spirits from the US of A. (Christmas is also right around the corner, so it might be wise to get ahead of the game.)
FEW Spirits is a sensible starting point, a project born in Evanston, Illinois, that’s risen to global acclaim since launching in 2011. Founder Paul Hletko’s Straight Bourbon Whiskey is a bomb that typifies the indie American palate – bold, spicy and rich with cloves, orange pith, treacle and pine, earning a whopping 95 points from Jim Murray’s Whiskey Bible.
Not far away, in downtown Chicago, Koval Distillery has been turning heads since 2008, built from the ground up by a wife-and-husband team known for sourcing organic Midwestern grains and working with single barrels. Their Single Barrel Bourbon is a subtler, softer iteration (Highballs, anyone?) steered by the unconventional use of millet – a small-grained, gluten-free cereal grasses common in Asia and Africa. They also make a Single Barrel Millet Whiskey, exclusively from millet, a slightly floral and honeyed expression that’s a worthy departure from the norm.
Over on the east coast, in Baltimore, Sagamore Spirit is setting a sky-high standard for rye, using mostly locally grown grains to revive Maryland’s storied whiskey tradition. The signature Rye Whiskey is a stellar intro to the house style, peppery and dry but laced with candied ginger, orange and sarsaparilla. The Double Oak Rye Whiskey, meanwhile, doubles down on the impact with an extra 18 months in toasted wave stave barrels to bring out those deeper notes of pecans, hazelnuts and roasted coconut.
Great things are going on over west, too, at High West Distillery in Park City, Utah, overseen by former biochemist David Perkins. His High Prairie Bourbon is a blend of two mash bills, buoyed by flavours of crème brûlée, toffee and honey-nut cereal with a warm, almost minty snap at the close. There’s more punch to the Double Rye, which packs in loads of cinnamon, liquorice and clove-driven spice but still has a surprising degree of citrusy brightness.
Up in Portland, Wesward Whiskey is also pushing boundaries with a suite of single malts that really deliver. The flagship Single Malt Whiskey brings it on the sweetness front – macerated berries, maple syrup, vanilla custard, dark chocolate – while the Pinot Noir Cask Single Malt Whiskey leans more into the chewy, dried-fruit spectrum that comes with two years spent in French oak pinot noir casks from some of Oregon’s star wineries. Make room on the bar shelf!