Meet Stranahan’s, the American Single Malt Whiskey Chief
Stranahan’s Colorado Single Malt Whiskey was began greater than 20 years in the past and is the best-selling American single malt whiskey within the US.
Creator: Noah Rothbaum
On the flip of the twenty-first century, there was a terrific debate amongst drinks specialists about whether or not you can make single malt whiskey in the US that was value ingesting. Might you meld Scottish traditions with American ones to create one thing fully new or would this hybrid simply embarrassingly fall flat?
The primary time I used to be satisfied that American single malt might truly be greater than an existential distilling train was once I tasted Stranahan’s Colorado Whiskey. The model dates again to 2004 and was the state’s first distillery since Prohibition. I attempted the whiskey for the primary time a couple of years later. After a few sips, it grew to become obvious that this pioneering craft whiskey, made in Denver, was neither a Scotch knockoff nor an extra-malty bourbon. Based on Stranahan’s Founder Jess Graber, the unique objective of the model was to make a whiskey distinctive to Colorado–and distinctive to whiskey–that mixed single malt’s Scotch origins with American bourbon processing. The top end result was one thing actually scrumptious. I felt like I had found a brand new secret dram. Since then, Stranahan’s has develop into the most-awarded and best-selling American single malt within the nation.
Now, in fact, there is no such thing as a longer a debate about whether or not American single malt is a viable class, and since this previous January it has its personal federal laws. The highlights of those manufacturing requirements embrace the truth that American single malt now has to have a base of solely malted barley; can’t be a mix of whiskies from completely different distilleries; have to be mashed, distilled and aged within the US; have to be distilled to a most proof of 160; saved in oak barrels with a most capability of 700 liters; and bottled at a minimal of 80 proof.
It was undoubtedly time for federal laws given there are actually greater than 250 producers of single malt throughout the US. These laws make it possible for there may be regularity regardless of the place within the nation the whiskey is made or by who, and places it on par with different main spirits, which have already got devoted classes.
Stranahan’s is, in fact, not a secret. It has a 3rd of the overall class gross sales, which fortunately means I can discover it on the menus of a lot of my favourite bars. In any case these years, the whiskey continues to be created from domestically sourced barley and Rocky Mountain spring water, distilled twice in a copper pot nonetheless and aged in new American oak barrels which have a quantity three char. “Twenty years one recipe and one recipe solely,” says the model’s Head Blender Justin Aden. “We actually have a singular focus at getting good at this.”
The final time I visited the distillery, I noticed a variety of various kinds of barrels getting used to age whiskey. I used to be greater than intrigued and wished to style all of those completely different single malts. Fortuitously, I don’t have to attend anymore, as Stranahan’s has developed a strong portfolio of award-winning American single malt whiskies. In 2024, it was named “Finest in Class” American Single Malt Whiskey on the San Francisco World Spirits Competitors.
Stranahan’s has grown from providing a single spirit, the so-called Unique (which is at the moment a mix of whiskies aged 5 to eight years, is a sturdy 47% ABV and is non-chill filtered) to now promoting a full line of single malts. All the whiskies are made the identical manner however differ in age and in the event that they’re completed in a second barrel. Along with Unique, its core portfolio contains the Solera-finished Blue Peak, which has a wealthy and mellow taste at a decrease 43% ABV; Sherry Cask, which is aged for a second time in Pedro Ximénez Sherry casks and is a good dram for Scotch drinkers simply stepping into American single malts; the Diamond Peak sequence that releases a brand new restricted version yearly making use of barrels that previously held different sorts of liquor (the most recent one, which simply got here out, was aged in beer casks); and the Mountain Angel line that incorporates a 10-year-old and a 12-year-old whiskey, that are among the many oldest American single malts ever to be extensively launched.
For sooner or later solely, on the primary Saturday in December, you should purchase Stranahan’s uncommon Snowflake Launch at its Colorado distillery, which sells out in just some hours—some followers present up a number of days early to be the primary in line to snag a bottle. I additionally counsel looking for the model’s Founder’s Launch 12-year-old that commemorates each the brand new single malt class and celebrates its legacy.
I can’t consider a greater solution to toast the success of the now official American single malt class than by elevating a glass of Stranahan’s.
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