Woodford Reserve Is Releasing an American Single Malt Whiskey

Whiskey fans love Woodford Reserve for its bourbon, but the distillery also makes other styles of whiskey—including rye, malt, and experimental mashbills that fall under its Distillery Series and Master’s Collection lineups. Today Woodford announced that it was releasing its first-ever American single malt, a category that has been around for decades but was only recently given an official designation. The question is, how will bourbon drinkers respond to it?

We asked master distiller Elizabeth McCall about this, and she believes the category is being well-received by bourbon drinkers. “Bourbon drinkers are curious about exploring the American whiskey category, and this is just an addition to the category,” she told Robb Report. “As a bourbon drinker myself, I am excited to see how American whiskey makers develop a unique ASM flavor profile.” Given that Jack Daniel’s is among the major distilleries that recently launched an American single malt (joining the ranks of Diageo’s Bulleit and the James B. Beam Distilling Co.), we asked her if Woodford’s new expression has any similarities given that they are both are owned by parent company Brown-Forman. She says that is not the case at all. “The way we make our whiskey is very different from Jack Daniel’s. Our expression of Woodford Reserve American Single Malt uses our proprietary yeast strain, is triple pot distilled, and aged in used bourbon barrels. I’m really excited for our fans to get a taste of this beautiful expression.”

Here are the details of this new whiskey: It’s made from a mashbill of 100 percent malted barley and aged in used barrels, as McCall described, for a minimum of 12 years. That’s actually quite old for this category, as most releases (with some exceptions) are matured for somewhere between five and 10 years. It was bottled at 90.4 proof, just like the bourbon, and is part of the Distillery Series. That means that it’s available in limited numbers in smaller 375-ml bottles (SRP $100) that you can find at the distillery and Kentucky retailers starting today. We did not get to try a sample yet, but the official tasting notes describe aromas of caramel, sun tea, pear, ginger, and cardamom on the nose. That’s followed by notes of nutty malt, caramel, clove, and a squeeze of lemon on the palate, and a bright finish.

Bottles of the new Woodford Reserve American Single Malt will likely appear on the secondary market in the future, but until then you can find other expressions—including the excellent and expensive Baccarat Edition, and the now widely available Double Double Oaked—available at ReserveBar now.