5 American Single Malts: St. George, Clermont Steep, Minden Mill, Judson & Moore, McCarthy's 6yo

I'm currently losing my mind over the tariffs stuff over here but before we get to that, here's a somewhat cheerier video I recorded last week about American Single Malt Whiskeys. Hooray! As of rules approved in mid-December and active as of January, the TTB has finally established a legal standard for the category: www.ttb.gov/pu.... As with Scotland, consumers in the US and worldwide now know basically what they're getting with a bottle labeled in this way - so, e.g., no more year-old new make cluttering up the shelves. And that's as good an excuse as any to taste through a flight of the things:
St. George Single Malt Whiskey, Lot SM022 (Alameda, CA; bottled 2022; 43% ABV), 84🤔/100
Clermont Steep American Single Malt Scotch Whiskey (Jim Beam, Clermont, KY; aged in new American oak for 60 months; bottled 2023; 47% ABV), 83+/100
Minden Mill 5 Year Old Single Malt Whiskey (Minden, NV; aged in American and French oak, bottled 2024; unchillfiltered; 47% ABV), 85+/100
Judson & Moore Single Malt Scotch Whiskey (Chicago, IL; 65% applewood smoked malt, aged 2 years, batch 4; bottled circa 2024; 47% ABV), 85+/100
McCarthy's 6 Year Old Oregon Single Malt Scotch Whiskey, Batch MC6 22-01 (Clear Creek Distillery, Hood River, OR; aged in Garryana oak, bottled 9/8/22; unchillfiltered; 50% ABV), 88+/100
The St. George is a fairly high-quality head-scratcher, but a head-scratcher all the same. Think old Sauternes meets a fistful of flowers and a California IPA and you're close. It's enjoyable and certainly something I think all the nerds out there should try, but it's not winning the flight. That said, it's still easier to take than the Clermont Steep from Freddie Noe, which presents as an intersection between a bourbon and a herbal liqueur. It desperately needs gentler maturation - how about some ex-bourbon casks, guys? - but the quality isn't bad, even if the appeal is limited.
The Minden Mill, presented by former Clear Creek head distiller Joe O'Sullivan, is - hands down - the biggest crowd pleaser of the flight. The achievement here is that if you've ever had a single malt before in your life then this has essentially no difficulty curve, and yet at the same time it's totally its own thing. Imagine a fruity Speysider and a Petite Champagne had a love child. That's a hard combination to beat but the J&M (from here in Chicago!) just about manages it, at least if you're up for tasting an apple porridge eau-de-vie smothered in nutshells and mud. I love it.
But realistically nothing here was going to beat the McCarthy's 6, now finally - finally! - available in Illinois. You're going to either love or hate the earthy, grungy combination of peat and garryana, but if it's your thing then this is a hell of a ride. No, it's not quite as good as the rum cask one ( • Fresh Peat: Port Askai... ) or my old Party Source dusty ( • American Malts I: Stra... ), but we're very close.
Extra special thanks to my Different Spirits on Patreon ( / differentspirits ) -
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[@N_D_N_CHZHD]

Nice options - look forward to supporting Chicago’s very own. I visited Tucson recently - Del Bac and was impressed by their mesquite smoked line(more than the non/regular one). As someone else mentioned, Westward and Balcones are also doing good stuff as well. I wish there was more ASM reviewers - reviews.

[@Orpheus159]

Would love to see you try Westward, Balcones, and Andalusia Whiskey Co.

[@differentspirits4157]

I've actually done some Balcones (kzbin.info/www/bejne/laOweqyeoJmYldk and kzbin.info/www/bejne/bHbWe2qMi6imntU ) but you are correct, Westward deserves a turn and soon. Andalusia is much tougher to get up here but I'll see what I can do!

[@Orpheus159]

@ I’ll be sure to check those out thanks. Moose, the head distiller with Andalusia gave you a shoutout in this week’s Whiskey Tribe video. I’m now a new subscriber. Their Revenant Oak and Stryker are damn good! Cheers!

[@Orpheus159]

Balcones Cataleja is a current special anniversary edition. Pricier but maybe the best Balcones I’ve had.

[@differentspirits4157]

I saw! Welcome to my scrappy, underproduced little booze channel! 😁 It looks like there are some shipping options re: the Andalusia stuff, there may be hope...

[@nerdyharrybartending]

Another great video. I wish the new standard specified Barley grown in the US, but I suppose it's ultimately not necessary. Balcones, Copper Fox, Pine Barrens BiB -- have we had?? what do we think??

[@differentspirits4157]

@@nerdyharrybartending US barley only would mean the end of McCarthys though, and I'm just not willing to pay that price!! 😅 I've never seen Pine Barrens around here, but there's Balcones reviews at kzbin.info/www/bejne/laOweqyeoJmYldk and kzbin.info/www/bejne/bHbWe2qMi6imntU ... as for Copper Fox, I only tried it like a decade and a half ago and it wasn't good, but who knows? Maybe they've improved the formula since then.

[@bigalmichel]

It's a funny coincidence for me that this video came out today, because I was planning to ping you yesterday to ask about an American Single Malt I just tried on a whim. From Virginia Distilling Company, which claims to be "the most awarded single malt distillery company in America." That may not mean much; it all depends on how they're defining it. They also claim to be the biggest dedicated American Single Malt distillery. This too may not mean much and depends on how they're defining things. But, if there's anything at all to either of these claims, they should probably be in the consideration set for American Single Malt. Here was my experience yesterday. A quick mini-flight of Stagg vs Elijah Craig Barrel Proof. Both way too thin, spirity, and HOT! Stagg flavors decent, ECBP flavors not great. Lots of weaker and less exalted bourbons taste better. So then I swung by the store, and on a whim tried a mini of the Virginia Distillery Company Port Cask Reserve. And it was excellent by comparison with the bourbons. Thicker, richer, more interesting, more flavorful. Definitely cask driven, not in a woody way, but in a porty way. But the underlying malt tasted pretty high quality. Overall pretty good for an American Single Malt and even for a port-finished Scotch. Then I tried one from the same company finished in "Gingerbread Stout" beer barrels, and it was much less of a winner for me. Underlying malt still seemed good, but the finish just didn't appeal. Then today I tried their flagship "Courage and Conviction." Uh oh. I don't love this one either... it's "good" but there's one note I don't love--maybe the problem with the Gingerbread one wasn't just the finish? Scores maybe 83- for Gingerbread, 84+ for flagship, 85+ for Port. I think maybe worth a try for you in the consideration set of American Single Malts. I'm curious about what you'll think. (Also, I second the mention of Del Bac mesquite smoked single malt from another commenter. I've never tried it, but I read about it, and it sounds weird, interesting and good and might be of interest to you in this category.)

[@TedChristman]

I’ve watched many of your reviews and can’t remember seeing anything rated over 90. I wouldn’t buy any wines that weren’t 90+ as there’s so many good wines for low cost. Why would someone pay $40-70 for and 85 score products? Would you list those products that you think would be worthy of 90+ scores?

[@differentspirits4157]

I mean wine scoring is a joke these days, James Suckling will 90 just about anything for _being a wine_ and Jeb Dunnuck has never met a big overblown red he didn't like. (There's reasons for this but that's a longer discussion.) Spirits scores, including mine, just tend to be lower across the board, I'd generally say by a good 5-6 points. If a 90 in wine review now just means means "pretty darn good," I'd say all of these (except the Beam and maybe the St. George) cross that line. Now for what I'd actually call a 90 or above, we've got one coming up on Friday. 😁 I don't tend to drop them on malts very often, it's true, but I think that's mainly because malts at that level are almost always well above the budgets I'm interested in (but here's a recent example in a Glenburgie: kzbin.info/www/bejne/i4SrXpmGbLOYp80 ).