American Single Malt Category Receives Long-Awaited Ratification from US Government

The American Single Malt is now an official whiskey category. (Photo: American Single Malt Whiskey Commission)

The U.S. Government’s Tobacco Tax and Trade Bureau ratified the American Single Malt whisky category on Friday. The regulations for the category are set to be implemented in January 2025 after initially being proposed to the TTB in 2022.

“This is a landmark ruling by TTB and validation for years’ worth of work of American distillers to define American Single Malt,” American Single Malt Commission President Steve Hawley said in a news release. “It has been over 52 years since a new type of whiskey was added to our federal regulations. We applaud the TTB for formalizing the category, which will signal to the world that not only do we believe in and support our own distilleries, but we also recognize that American Single Malt Whiskey is unique and deserves to be defined and protected as other American whiskey categories are. Most importantly, this new definition ensures that consumers worldwide can have every confidence that what they think is in a bottle of American Single Malt Whiskey actually is.”

The TTB regulations require that any whiskey designated as an American Single Malt must meet the following regulations:

• The whiskey must be mashed, distilled to 160 proof or less and aged in the U.S.
• The distillate must be produced at one distillery in the U.S. and distilled from a fermented mash of 100% malted barley.
• The whiskey must be stored in oak barrels no larger than 700 liters and bottled at 80 proof or higher.

The American Single Malt Commission put some pressure on the TTB in July to cement the rules for the category after it was initially proposed in 2022. Distillers specializing in the category were anxious for more concrete guidelines and cited “global pressures” and concerns about opportunists manipulating the category as the main reasons.

“American Single Malt Whiskey is also facing threats from brands with questionable or misleading labeling, as well as spurious and self-motivated claims that American Single Malt broadly is of suspect quality,” the commission wrote.

Brands from around the United States expressed their relief and excitement for the news.

“We at Lost Lantern, as passionate advocates and independent bottlers of American whiskey, are thrilled to witness the historic ratification of American Single Malt Whiskey as an official style of whiskey recognized by the U.S. Federal Government,” said Adam Polonski, co-founder of the independent bottler Lost Lantern. “We have long thought that American Single Malt is one of the most exciting and exceptional styles of whiskey in the entire world, and this long-sought recognition will dramatically boost the category’s visibility with whiskey lovers all around the world. We especially applaud the hard work of the American Single Malt Whiskey Commission and our many American Single Malt distillery partners for their tireless efforts to reach this milestone.”

Jason Moore, managing director of Westland Whiskey, meanwhile, said:

“Westland was founded on the conviction that American Single Malt Whiskey could and should stand shoulder to shoulder with the finest whiskeys in the world. For more than a decade we have been at the forefront of this new category diligently working to establish it on the global stage.”

Though the majority of whiskey brands in the United States are toasting the new concrete regulations in place, one brand does not share the same sentiments. Minnesota’s Brother Justus expressed Monday that it opposed the new ruling — specifically, its cap on distillation proof.

“The 160 cap eliminates distillation flexibility for American Single Malt distillers and forces 100 percent malted barley whiskey to be distilled in the same manner as bourbon,” the brand said in a news release.

Brother Justus claimed it sent in 20 pages of “factual commentary” countering the 160-proof ruling. Brother Justus distills its whiskeys beyond 160 proof and thus will not be considered an American single malt as of January.

“The company does not embrace it, applaud it, nor will they comply with it,” Brother Justus wrote. “They will not sacrifice the quality of its American Single Malt to fit in a box requiring lower standards for its products.”