St. George Single Malt Whiskey is an American original: distilled, aged, blended, and bottled by us out of love for what a handcrafted single malt can be.

If youve tried any other St. George distillate, you owe it to yourself to taste the spirit that compelled master distiller Lance Winters to start distilling in the first place. (If you can get your hands on a bottle, that is.)

1001 Whiskies You Must Taste Before You Die says our whiskey might just be the best U.S. single malt available todayand by George, we agree.

Before starting at St. George in 1996, Lance had spent five years working as a brewer. When he realized that brewing beer was halfway to distilling whiskey, he turned in his brewers card and dedicated himself to the art and craft of distillation.

Lances brewing background strongly informed our whiskeys mash billusing various roast levels of two-row barley to elicit rich aromas of hazelnut and cocoa, and smoking a portion of unroasted barley over beech and alder wood to add base notes and additional complexity.

The resulting whiskey is expressive and inviting right off the still, but a variety of cooperage types (used bourbon casks, French oak, port barrels, and sherry barrels) contribute an even greater depth of flavorcreating a layered single malt with a signature all its own.

Each release of St. George Single Malt Whiskey varies a little since were able to draw from a wider selection of barrels with every new bottling. The goal, though, is to increase expressiveness and flavor with every releasewhile staying true to our whiskeys signature. In recent years, distiller/blender Dave Smith has become the chief custodian for our whiskey program, and it is his palate that now guides its evolution.

For our current 2017 release (Lot 17), Dave ventured deep into the far corners of our whiskey library and drew from a selection of 19 different barrels ranging 68 years in age. Casks included used bourbon barrels from our Breaking & Entering label, as well as American and French oak that had previously held sweet Port and dessert wine.

Master distiller Lance Winters describes it as exhibiting "a perfect balance between softness and strength of character." Head distiller/blender Dave Smith picks up pear, apricot, banana, Mexican chocolate, and hazelnut on the nose; on the palate, a light sweetness that evolves into candied citrus, dried fruit, cashew butter, and the malted barley wash that is a hallmark of our single malt from Lot to Lot.

Driven by a fruit-forward, floral nose and the classic cocoa and roasted nut flavors, St. George Single Malt Whiskey is an elegant expression of single malt.

Sip neat to fully experience all the nuances and depth of flavor, or add nothing more than a single large ice cube. This is as good as whiskey gets.