February 2024 Digest — Whiskery Turnip

Mar 3

Mar 3 February 2024 Digest

Welcome to a wrap-up of reviews from February 2024!

Happy Leap Year! February stretched on a bit longer than usual, and I could see the weariness begin to set into the eyes of the students who had been right and bushy-tailed just a few weeks ago. We really are in the doldrums of the semester— far from the beginning, far from the end— just trapped in the middle of a journey. Little do students realize, it will be over far too quickly.

Beyond the grind of writing, grading, lecturing, and facilitating, life has kept pace. Plans for finally making it to Scotland continue to take shape with friends— our single big group activity is all booked! However, the finer details of travel remain on hold. The whole affair is over eight months away, and I cannot wait— even if I do not look forward to the 24+ hours of flying and traveling to get there.

For February, I turned my attention to American Single Malts. I love the category, and I am enthusiastic to see where developments in the industry take us. Since I started this website five years ago there have been a number of new distilleries have started production, a number of established whisky distilleries have turned to produce single malts occasionally, there has been movement on creating legal definitions and standards for the category, and a handful of independent bottlers that specialize in it have emerged alongside many others that dabble occasionally.

After reviewing 22 American Single Malts in 2022, I only managed 9 in 2023. So, I resolved to do better in 2024. It would be nice to hit 100! There are 86 reviews of American Single Malts on this website, so after doing 15 in February, I need to write another 14!

We’ll see if I can swing that— I donʻt have that many unreviewed samples or bottles, but if I can find a few more, I will make it happen.

I kicked off the American Single Malt focus with a week of reviews focused on Seattle’s Copperworks Distillery. While most of these were matured in new oak, a common vessel for whiskies in the United States due to the needs of the bourbon industry, I was thrilled to finally come across a refill maturation from the distillery.

Their exceptionally characterful malt handles new oak well. Still, the refill barrel gave more room for the malt to take center stage— tea, buckthorns, tropical fruits, and maritime brine make for a beautiful combination and form the backbone of many of the releases I have reviewed. I am extremely high on the distillery and will keep an eye out to try more as soon as possible.

My love of Seattle’s other mainstay distillery, Westland, feels like it has burned down to a smolder from the raging fire it once was. The distillery’s core range began to disappear off store shelves in my market leading up to their branding refresh, and no products have ever returned to take their place. I rarely seem to have the opportunity to try Westland anymore. It is still in my top 10 most reviewed distilleries, with 32 total reviews after this month, but more than half date from 2019 to 2021. It was great to review a few more again finally, but none stood out from the mass of other oak or cask-dominant whiskies in my glass lately.

I followed up my Westland visit with a broader view of other interesting entrants in the American Single Malt Category. From a tiny Colorado distillery to core products from Cedar Ridge in Iowa to a Lost Lantern release from Santa Fe Spirits, I reviewed a little bit of everything. Santa Fe Spirits continues to impress with their mesquite smoked barley, which produces a rich menthol or sage grass note— truly characterful stuff! I also reviewed a McCarthy’s malt from Oregon’s Clear Creek— the oldest continuous single malt producer in the United States— which was no slouch with its rum cask maturation lending more fruit to the typical peaty profile.

The month ended with a trip back to Islay and Bruichladdich— my most reviewed distillery. I ended with a set of unpeated releases, mainly from the first couple of years after the distillery reopened, but one far more recent and one quite a bit older. It was fun to compare the various maturations and styles; some highlighted characterful elements of the distillery profile, and some felt a bit less distinctive. They were all wonderful and a reminder that I often criminally underrate the unpeated malt produced there.

On to March and perhaps a few more pit stops on Islay!

A few numbers from February: