American single malt whiskey is the fastest-growing whiskey category in the United States. So, yes, it’s a pretty big deal—even if the style hasn’t yet been officially defined. But when Stranahan first fired up his stills in 2004, the landscape was very different. The Denver-based distillery was one of the first to widely produce American single malt, and it remains one of the best. Just ask the expert panel at the Beverage Testing Institute. Last month, the prestigious panel awarded a Platinum Medal to Stranahan’s Mountain Angel 10 Year.
Stranahan introduced Mountain Angel in 2020. In a testament to its early adopter status, it became the first 10-year-aged straight American single malt to hit liquid shelves. It’s now an ultra-premium annual expression matured in new charred American oak like its straight bourbon and straight rye whiskey siblings—only this one is made with 100% malted barley.
Mountain Angel accumulates an enviable golden amber color over a decade of dormancy in virgin barrels. It offers notes of cedar-smoked honey when poured into a glass. On the palate, it exudes a salted caramel flavor at first sip. Repeated exposures reveal dried apricots and a hint of baking spice, reminiscent of nutmeg. Subtle in its approach and slowly evolving in the glass, it’s easy to see why this liquid appealed so much to the folks at the Beverage Tasting Institute. Indeed, they’re not the only ones impressed by the expression. Shortly after its initial release, Mountain Angel took home a Double Gold at the 2021 San Francisco World Spirits Competition.
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The ABV, which is tempered by using Rocky Mountain water, varies slightly from batch to batch, most recently reaching 45.1%. But other than that, a $120 bottle of Mountain Angel is intended to be a consistent product year-round. And it will be joined on shelves by a larger sibling: Mountain Angel 12 Year, set to launch later this fall.
Meanwhile, Stranahan’s and other leading American single malt producers are busy trying to convince the government to finally enshrine the category with the same protections granted to bourbon and rye. Despite the style’s runaway popularity, the Tax and Trade Bureau (TTB), which oversees liquor labeling laws, has been stubbornly slow to officially define American single malt. As a result, any type of whiskey can technically call itself one, even if it’s not made from 100% malted barley, distilled in a single location, or even made in America.
To combat this, the Distilled Beverages Council of America, along with the American Single Malt Whiskey Commission (yes, that's a real thing), launched a grassroots campaign. The two trade groups collected and sent more than 1,000 letters to the government agency calling for immediate bureaucratic action.
“It’s clear that having an official standard for American single malt whiskey is an important issue for distillers large and small,” says Chris Swonger, president and CEO of the Distilled Spirits Council. “Together with our partners at the American Single Malt Whiskey Commission, we sent a very loud and direct message to the TTB to make this a priority.”
U.S. drinkers have certainly made American single malt a priority for their home bars. While big brands like Stranahan’s continue to garner significant praise, the lack of official recognition is becoming an increasingly impossible problem to ignore. As we said at the beginning: American single malt is a big deal. Let’s all agree on what it really is.
Related: The Best American Single Malt Whiskeys of 2024