There are now more whiskey distilleries in the US Than in Scotland

[Josh]

In spite of all these exceptions around the edges, I think Chuck's point still stands. The Scotch whisky market is still very different from the American whisky market. No matter who sells what amount of malt to whom, the Scottish blend market is huge and is the biggest market for Single Malts as a whole is blends. I would be shocked if, aside from LDI, any major American distiller puts much thought into blends. That's one of the biggest differences between the two markets and makes any direct comparison between the two shaky.

[Fpst]

Sorry, timeout. I just want to interrupt to say good job on the list Sku. There's another distillery, called Dancing Pines, here in Colorado that makes whiskey. Thought you'd want to know.

Ok, gentlemen. Game on. This is a very interesting thread. It'll be nice stumbling upon it a few years down the road when some of these micro start ups either "make-it or break-it."

[Fpst]

Oh crap, I forgot. Another one here in Colorado called Distillery 291. So far its all un-aged, but I believe they've got some in barrels as we speak.

[unclebunk]

This has proven to be a very interesting thread to read. Thanks for the list, Sku.

[cowdery]

Steffen and others have convinced me that I am wrong about a couple of my broad statements and I've also probably rained too hard on Sku's parade. The change in the U.S. spirits-making industry in the last five years is epic, even if it's not very significant in terms of volume. Statistical comparisons are a good way to get a handle on something conceptual and the fact that the U.S. now has more distilleries that Scotland is significant, even if the Scottish whisky industry outproduces the American by about five to one. (Is that right?)

[Jonny.Applebury]

Do you know what blends have Glenmorangie in them? They're such a tightly controlled brand. I've never seen any independent bottlings personally, unlike most every other label. Serge on whiskyfun.com only lists a few indie bottlings and they're all through the SMSW Society. Come to think of it, Ardbeg, owned by the same guys who own Glenmorangie, most often pops up in independent bottlings via the SMSW Society.

The case with many Glenmorangie and Ardbeg casks being released through the Scotch Malt Whisky Society is likely because the SMWS is owned by Glenmorangie (or its parent company).

Another interesting thing I learned this past weekend is that Bruichladdich sold some Port Charlotte casks to the SMWS in its first year of production of Port Charlotte, but no longer sells their Port Charlotte casks to the SMWS or anyone else. I asked Simon Coughlin, Operations Director at Bruichladdich, this very question this past weekend in Chicago. I was unclear on whether they keep every drop of Bruichladdich malt to themselves, as well.

[timd]

Regardless of any caveats on the analysis - gross numbers are impressive.

I get the LPA values - and blends vs. straight, etc. - but the net results is an impressive gain in VARIETY & CHOICE of whiskey here in the US - which is only good for us consumers (assuming that more than a handful of these craft/micro distillers can put out tolerable stuff ).

Undeniably it means that things are changing here in the US, and clearly we are at the dawn of a new age for Whiskey for the long-term (even if 3/4s of these guys go belly-up we'll still have triple the number of producers on the books).

Thanks for the insight and tracking the growth!

[macdeffe]

A blend containing Glenmorangie would most likely be BNJ (Bailie Nicol Jarvie) which is produced by the Glenmorangie company

I've heard unofficial rumours of a bastard malts being Glenmorangie, but I am never sure if these rumours can be trusted so not going to forward them.

Westport is supposed to be Glenmorangie teaspooned with Glen Moray, but its hard to find

Steffen

[cowdery]

Just-drinks.com reports today that Scotch Whisky exports hit a record GBP4.2bn (US$6.7bn) in shipment value last year, up 23% on 2010.

American spirits exports (mostly bourbon) are worth about $1.3 billion a year. Of course, the U.S. domestic market is many times larger than the Scottish domestic market.

They try their best, but they're a very small country.

[MacinJosh]

Outstanding list Sku! Thanks for sharing.