'Given the critical mass that we have,' single-malt whiskey to get official definition in U.S.; it has more stills than Scotland

American distilleries can choose colors and aromas that celebrate
their region. (Photo by Lauren Lancaster, The New York Times)

Single-malt whiskey is going mainstream. "In the coming months, the Tax and Trade Bureau, a part of the Treasury Department, will release an official definition of American single malt — the first new spirit category in many years and a recognition that a once-niche whiskey has entered the mainstream," reports Clay Risen of The New York Times. Steve Hawley, who in 2016 co-founded the American Single Malt Whiskey Commission to push for the new definition, told Risen, "It’s a necessary step given the critical mass that we have here, with over 200 distilleries making single malt whiskey in this country. That’s more than all of Scotland.”

Affectionately referred to as "the freewheeling cousin of Scotch, the proposed American definition is looser than Scotland’s famously rigid rules. Like Scotch, American single malt would have to be made at one distillery — hence 'single' — using 100 percent malted barley," Risen explains. "But while the Scottish version must be distilled on a pot still and aged for at least three years, neither requirement would exist in the U.S. . . . Tradition (though not law) dictates that single malt Scotch be aged in used casks, usually bourbon barrels, but no such expectation exists for its American counterpart."

The American single-malt industry continues to grow "with a diversity that reflects the country’s sheer size and its wide variety of climates, traditions and agriculture," Risen reports. "One advantage of malted barley is that it’s more like a canvas than a color. Its soft, nuanced flavors allow distilleries to layer it with influences at every step of production, from the variety of yeast and barley, to the peat or other sources of smoke used to stop the seeds from germinating, to the type of barrel it ages in. . . . Such diversity has allowed for a variety of distillery house styles to emerge."

"Master distiller Matt Hofmann draws inspiration from Pacific Northwest agriculture and culinary traditions," Risen writes. Hofmann told him, "We can do this in a way that’s not a clone of Scotch. Not that there’s anything wrong with Scotch. But it’s just like, what else is out there in an industry that’s 500 years old? For me, growing up here in the Pacific Northwest, it’s the ability to make a whiskey that is reflective of this place that I love.”