Name this an all-American ‘Scotch’

Single-malt whiskey is outlined as whiskey sourced from a single distillery and constituted of malted barley. It’s perpetually related to Scotland, after all, within the type of Scotch. However there’s nothing that claims single-malt whiskey can’t be made elsewhere — and certainly it’s, be it Japan, India or France.

The U.S. has additionally been rapidly catching on to the development. Once I first wrote about American single malts in 2015, only a handful of distilleries have been producing it. Now, there’s a whole group dedicated to the class — the aptly named American Single Malt Whiskey Fee — and it has about 90 member producers, in keeping with Steve Hawley, its president.

Maybe simply as important: The Alcohol and Tobacco Tax and Commerce Bureau is contemplating giving the class an official standing and commonplace of id.  

However Beam becoming a member of the record of producers can be no small deal. “It’s a quickly rising section,” says Carlo Coppola, Beam Distilling managing director, of the choice to launch Clermont Steep. Plus, it’s a approach for Beam to broaden its attain, he notes: “We’re recognized for making nice bourbon and nice rye. We wish to increase the boundaries of our whiskey-making capabilities.”

Coppola is so bullish on single malts that he sees the class “rising much more quickly than bourbon within the subsequent 5 years.”

However is an American single malt simply one other title for Scotch? Not fairly. As Coppola is fast to level out, the Beam whiskey is aged in new American oak barrels, whereas Scotch is usually aged in barrels which have beforehand held one other whiskey (together with bourbon) or sherry.

Different differentiating elements additionally come into play, together with the local weather of the place the place the barrels are aged. Scotland, with its cool, damp climate, will not be precisely Kentucky, the place Clermont Steep is produced — particularly, Clermont, Kentucky. As for the “Steep” within the title, that refers to a course of utilized in making malt whiskey.

What we give it some thought

It’s troublesome to check any American single malt with any single-malt Scotch as a result of Scotch itself is such a diverse class, with a spread of producers throughout the nation reflecting completely different types. That stated, Clermont Steep is way from a “Scotch” – it has a sweetness, with notes of vanilla and caramel, that’s all its personal. And it’s a tasty little sip, with only a trace of cinnamon and pepper-like spice on the end that offers it a little bit complexity as effectively. In all, a great way to discover this burgeoning class.

The best way to get pleasure from it

Coppola advised me you actually need to have this neat or on the rocks to understand its uniqueness — and I heartily concur. However he says it might probably additionally work in a whiskey-based cocktail, akin to a Manhattan.