Two Years After American Single Malt’s Ratification, the Category Is Still Findings Its Way

It’s been nearly two years since the Alcohol and Tobacco Tax and Trade Bureau (TTB) ratified a standard of identity for American single malt. The milestone was hailed as a victory by distillers across the country, many of whom had been petitioning the TTB for years via the American Single Malt Whiskey Commission (ASMWC). They eagerly anticipated positive outcomes: more consumer recognition, smoother paths to the shelf, higher sales.

Such hopes remain, by and large, unrealized, as the American single malt category is dealing with the same economic challenges that are depressing sales of other whiskeys. “Things are happening slower than a lot of us would like to see simply because it’s tough times out there,” says Steve Hawley, president of the AMSWC. “I wish with all my life that it didn’t take 10 years to do what we did and we had that ratification a few years earlier when boom times were still going. The timing is unfortunate but we’re not different from any other category of whiskey right now.”

A few distilleries have gone out of business, and even some of the biggest producers of American single malt are taking it on the chin. Seattle-based Westland Distillery, owned by Rémy Cointreau, lost $1 million worth of whiskey to theft last summer; although that was a matter of bad luck, the distillery also laid off multiple staff members at the beginning of the year. Diageo subsidiary Distill Ventures wound down in 2025, leading one of the distilleries in which it held a stake, Portland, Ore.’s Westward Whiskey, to file for bankruptcy. And Diageo-owned Balcones Distillery in Waco, Texas stopped production altogether in August 2025, laying off 17 staff (and with the company’s new CEO pledging significant cuts to the workforce, more layoffs wouldn’t come as a surprise).

Still, there are bright spots. News of ratification sparked interest from the media, which has drawn attention to the niche category and provided opportunities to introduce and explain it. Producers have used the official designation to push retailers and bar owners to create dedicated sections for American single malt on their shelves and menus. And whiskey aficionados who may have had questions before are now becoming dialed in to what makes American single malt distinct, especially in relation to other whiskey styles.

“We no longer get bourbon lovers coming in and saying ‘I don’t like American single malt because I don’t like peated whiskey’,” says Justin Aden, head blender at Stranahan’s, the largest American single malt brand. The misunderstanding — that American single malt would be peated, as many Scotches are — used to be common among American whiskey drinkers visiting the distillery. Aden adds that consumers also have a better understanding of the difference between a bourbon mash bill and a 100-percent malted barley whiskey. “It sounds elementary, but it was literally not on anyone’s radar before,” he says.

But what American single malt is, and what makes it distinct, remain mostly unknown outside of connoisseur circles. Even releases from major bourbon and Tennessee whiskey brands like Jim Beam, Bulleit, and Jack Daniel’s don’t seem to have moved the needle much. “Establishing the standard was really the beginning of building the category rather than the culmination of it,” says Jason Moore, managing director at Westland. Producers aren’t giving up, but they are adapting and looking for other opportunities to establish the category, bit by bit.

Effects of Ratification

The buildup to ratification took about a decade, which sounds like a long time but was relatively quick for an agency like the TTB. The agency had gone more than 50 years without adding a new whiskey category to the books before approving the standard of identity for American single malt in December 2024. Distillers and brands were hoping that the momentum would carry over into a positive impact on sales, but few have seen that materialize.

“We had high hopes, but it’s pretty much the same struggle,” says Stephen Paul, founder of Tucson’s Whiskey Del Bac. “Bourbon is the American whiskey. That’s a tough hurdle to get over.” He notes, however, that local stores have created dedicated sections for American single malt, something the distillery has long advocated for.

The standard of identity should get some of the credit for that, Hawley says. “It helps us in some of the practical trade aspects of making and selling whiskey,” he explains, noting that it gives retailers “incentive to create a separate shelf in their store, which we’ve shown, time and time again, is critical for our producers to be able to sell it.” Official recognition by an agency of the U.S. government also helps with tasks like export reporting; before, American single malt was just lumped into the category of “other,” making it difficult to accurately track sales.

But outside of the trade, among most consumers, the standard of identity holds little meaning, and producers still have to do some amount of education about American single malt, especially as it compares to the much more familiar category of bourbon. “I do 300 educational events a year in Oregon alone. People say, ‘Oh, whiskey, that’s not bourbon.’ You have to really start from the beginning,” says Mark Stell, founder of Bird Creek, an American single malt that focuses on unique barley varieties. “They just assume whiskey is Scotch. You have to start from the basics.”

Stell adds that distribution is another key challenge for Bird Creek, as it is for many small producers. Consolidation at the middle tier, coupled with the oversaturation of brands on the retail shelf, has narrowed avenues for growth, especially in the last couple of years. “It’s a dogfight, store to store and shelf to shelf,” says Gareth Moore, CEO of Virginia Distillery Company. “We’re investing a ton in sales and marketing to have very modest growth.”

Adjusting Expectations and Strategy

As demand for American single malt has failed to keep pace with projections, distillers are responding in different ways. In Westward’s case, the bankruptcy filing allowed it to restructure and become more agile for current conditions. CEO Tom Mooney says that the brand is “bigger today than it was before bankruptcy. We actually managed to grow over the last year and a half.”

Elsewhere, single malt distillers have leaned into new products and even diversified into different spirits altogether. Virginia Distillery Company’s Courage & Conviction single malt brand, retail-priced between $80 and $120, used to make up two-thirds of sales, but Moore says that in the last couple of years its share has fallen to one-third. The balance has shifted to the distillery’s line of cask-finished single malts, which are about half the price. Moore surmises that consumers are more comfortable with trial when the initial outlay is smaller.

“We had high hopes, but it’s pretty much the same struggle. Bourbon is the American whiskey. That’s a tough hurdle to get over.”

But Virginia Distillery Company has also moved beyond just offering single malt, incorporating a subsidiary called Pound & Penny Spirits whose portfolio includes Cierto Tequila and Kinda Light Vodka Seltzer. In addition, the company recently launched The Split Barrel Project, a bourbon–single malt blend that Moore says is acting as a gateway to the other whiskeys. “Consumers like the taste and the concept as a stepping stone,” he notes. “It’s a way to get people into the category.”

Whiskey Del Bac began expanding into bourbon and rye a few years ago with its Sentinel of the Desert line, comprising bourbon and rye from MGP that’s finished with staves from the distillery’s own mesquite-smoked whiskey casks. Paul was reluctant to diversify but the move made business sense. “We always had questions: Will you ever do a rye or bourbon? We always said no because the vision was a regional American single malt,” he explains. “Then we realized that there would be a demand and, from a cost standpoint, we needed a more cocktail-friendly whiskey.”

Stranahan’s is also targeting mixology with its Blue Peak expression, a blend of 4- to 7-year-old barrels priced around $40 at retail. “We’ve seen mixologists and bartenders shocked at the versatility of it,” Aden says. “It can fool you for a bourbon or Irish whiskey in a lot of cocktails. With the price where it is, it has been a tremendous gateway to the on premise.”

Overseas Opportunity

Unsurprisingly, American single malt producers have largely focused on domestic sales, but many say that export markets present a ripe opportunity for growth — even despite the reputational damage American whiskey is suffering. One big advantage is that the category doesn’t require a preamble of explanation overseas as it does here.

“Normally in the U.S. I find we’re explaining not what we are but what we aren’t. We’re American but we’re not bourbon. We’re single malt but we’re not Scotch,” Moore says. “Then you go international and start to explain it and someone’s like, ‘No, we get it.’ Globally the taste profile for whiskey is malt. You say whiskey overseas, they think malt.” Virginia Distillery Company currently exports to countries in Asia and Europe, as well as Australia.

Exporting American single malt requires tweaking of strategy and message but producers say it’s actually easier in many ways. “It’s an entirely different selling and marketing process when you don’t have to explain the category,” Mooney says. “The consumer understands malt whiskey and you can go straight to what makes you different. You’re not category building or explaining — you’re just telling your brand story.”

Making the jump to export isn’t necessarily straightforward, though, especially in the current sociopolitical climate. Stell was recently approached by a European importer looking for American whiskey like Bird Creek but, he says, “we have an idiotic tariff situation.” He remains hopeful that he’ll be able to make it work. “If you have a decent product, there’s a call for it, no question. Overseas markets want good products and they want a range of stuff.”

Although it’s the leading producer of American single malt, Stranahan’s has focused almost exclusively on the domestic market for its 23-year history. “We’ve always had this overlying philosophy that we didn’t really want to crack the overseas market until we could come to play with double-digit age statements,” Aden says. “Because overseas, that’s what they expect.” Now that its core line includes 10- and 12-year-old whiskeys — with higher age statements to come — Stranahan’s will begin expanding into other countries over the next couple of years.

Long Runway

Even if brands find success overseas, they still need drinkers at home to embrace the category too. With whiskey of all kinds in a rough patch, there are signs that American single malt may be better positioned than many of its bourbon and rye peers. “For better or worse there was never a bubble to burst within American single malt, so there was not a precipitous fall,” Moore says. “On a very small base it continued to grow through 2025 and so that’s a good thing for us.”

But patience, and perspective, are required. Overall sales of the category are a rounding error next to the behemoth bourbon, though Aden says that “the potential that American single malt has, even if it claws just a couple percentage points of the pie, is remarkable.”

It’s a big opportunity that will take time, but can happen if drinkers come to understand and support what makes American single malt special, just as they do with bourbon. “The exciting thing now is to try to explain that you should have just as much pride in American single malt as being a unique product of our country and representing our place as you have with bourbon,” Aden says. “We’re not trying to challenge bourbon as America’s whiskey top dog. You can have both.”

Moore points to other nontraditional single malt nations as a model of what American single malt could become: well-known, respected, beloved. “If Japan can do it and India can do it,” he says, “then sure as hell we can do it.”

The article Two Years After American Single Malt’s Ratification, the Category Is Still Findings Its Way appeared first on VinePair.