Smooth Ambler Old Scout

[BourbonGuy]

I know they were sourced to get started.  Have they released their own bourbon?  I saw this and wondered:

 

Smooth Ambler is a grain-to-glass craft distillery, founded in 2008 in the Appalachian Hills of Greenbrier County, West Virginia, by partners TAG Galyean and John Little. They produce handcrafted small-batch spirits in a state-of-the-art stillhouse using the finest whole American grains, including corn, malted barley and wheat, milled on site and carefully combined with pure local mountain water. John Little hand-cuts each batch and is one of the few distillers to make his own NGS (neutral grain spirit) – a costly and time-consuming step which results in a distinct flavor profile that is the hallmark of Smooth Ambler spirits. Every bottle is hand-labeled, individually numbered and signed.

[DeepCover]

Smooth Ambler Old Scout is a sourced bourbon, which is the origin of the name "old scout". Yearling is their own distillate and they've used their own distillate in the Contradiction blend. They have a 6 year wheated release expected in 2017, an older version of Yearling.

[Whiskey Dick]

they could've kept sourcing MGP rye at barrel proof and stayed in business forever by my opinion. Have yet to try their own make, though.

 

Lucky enough to still have 5 Rye barrel proofer's stashed, though the 99 proof rye is almost as good.

[garbanzobean]

8 hours ago, Three quarks said:

I am looking forward to the wheated release, but wonder why they keep pushing it to the right and mixing it. Maybe they are using up the mini barrels. I thought I read somewhere they started with those, but shifted course.

I'd guess that it's either not quite mature enough to stand on its own yet, or maybe they didn't want to release it prior to completion of sale of a majority stake off to Pernod Ricard.  I assume distilleries with full rackhouses sell for more than distilleries with empty ones.

Edited January 2, 2017 by garbanzobean

[BourbonGuy]

1 hour ago, garbanzobean said:

I'd guess that it's either not quite mature enough to stand on its own yet, or maybe they didn't want to release it prior to completion of sale of a majority stake off to Pernod Ricard.  I assume distilleries with full rackhouses sell for more than distilleries with empty ones.

I never considered that.  I know they were sold.  I could be wrong, but I think Chuck Cowdery mentioned they started making their own distillate back in 2011.

So when I read the description, I figured maybe they were releasing their own whiskey.   But saving it for a release for the mother company makes a lot of sense.

[garbanzobean]

49 minutes ago, BourbonGuy said:

I never considered that.  I know they were sold.  I could be wrong, but I think Chuck Cowdery mentioned they started making their own distillate back in 2011.

So when I read the description, I figured maybe they were releasing their own whiskey.   But saving it for a release for the mother company makes a lot of sense.

Who knows.  It's wild speculation on my part, but I'd certainly rather purchase a distillery with nearly six years of its own stock built up--plus a sizable, if somewhat diminished, cache of MGP distillate--than a nice big empty one.  It's a cynical take on the situation, but that's the world we live in.

 

That said, there's a serious upside even if one chooses to believe my cynical view on the situation: Extra age is unlikely to hurt their whiskey when they do finally release it.  A lot of smaller distilleries shoot themselves in their feet by not distilling their spirit with standard or even long aging in mind, but SA is likely to have a good idea of what they need to do for their environment at this point.  It can take time to figure your processes out, e.g. figure out a good fermentation process with mashbill/yeast/equipment/etc, sort out how wide a cut to take, make sure your aging environment is as good as it's going to be, etc etc etc.  

[tanstaafl2]

Their own release looks like it will just be called Smooth Ambler Wheated Bourbon when it eventually does get released.

 

https://www.ttbonline.gov/colasonline/viewColaDetails.do?action=publicFormDisplay&ttbid=16160001000466

 

Has anybody seen any of the whiskey that Smooth Ambler has apparently sourced from Dickel under the Old Scout label as "American Whiskey" that is distilled from a bourbon mash"? Apparently it was aged in used recharred barrels. I guess it is the stuff Diageo was trying to get called Tennessee whiskey with their legal action from a few years ago.

 

https://www.ttbonline.gov/colasonline/viewColaDetails.do?action=publicFormDisplay&ttbid=16074001000489

 

Edited January 6, 2017 by tanstaafl2

[meadeweber]

1 hour ago, tanstaafl2 said:

 

 

Has anybody seen any of the whiskey that Smooth Ambler has apparently sourced from Dickel under the Old Scout label as "American Whiskey" that is distilled from a bourbon mash"? Apparently it was aged in used recharred barrels. I guess it is the stuff Diageo was trying to get called Tennessee whiskey with their legal action from a few years ago.

 

https://www.ttbonline.gov/colasonline/viewColaDetails.do?action=publicFormDisplay&ttbid=16074001000489

 

Yes.  My local has it for $34.99.  I have not and probably will not purchase any.  Not a Dickel fan.

[garbanzobean]

2 hours ago, tanstaafl2 said:

Their own release looks like it will just be called Smooth Ambler Wheated Bourbon when it eventually does get released.

 

https://www.ttbonline.gov/colasonline/viewColaDetails.do?action=publicFormDisplay&ttbid=16160001000466

 

Has anybody seen any of the whiskey that Smooth Ambler has apparently sourced from Dickel under the Old Scout label as "American Whiskey" that is distilled from a bourbon mash"? Apparently it was aged in used recharred barrels. I guess it is the stuff Diageo was trying to get called Tennessee whiskey with their legal action from a few years ago.

 

https://www.ttbonline.gov/colasonline/viewColaDetails.do?action=publicFormDisplay&ttbid=16074001000489

 

No plans to try the SAOS American Whiskey, but I am thrilled to try their in house product.  That'll be one I open the day I buy it.

[Whiskey Dick]

slightly off topic....

 

I know SA stopped releasing barrel proof rye a few years ago, but are they still putting out the 99 proof rye? haven't seen any in a while, but haven't really looked either

[JoeTerp]

1 hour ago, Whiskey Dick said:

slightly off topic....

 

I know SA stopped releasing barrel proof rye a few years ago, but are they still putting out the 99 proof rye? haven't seen any in a while, but haven't really looked either

I thought they were all done with their rye

[mbroo5880i]

5 hours ago, Whiskey Dick said:

slightly off topic....

 

I know SA stopped releasing barrel proof rye a few years ago, but are they still putting out the 99 proof rye? haven't seen any in a while, but haven't really looked either

 

I still see this around the Indy area.  I never considered it a great mover so I don't know if this is old stock or replenished.  I kind of stopped paying much attention to it when the price increased into the low $40s.

[Whiskey Dick]

14 hours ago, JoeTerp said:

I thought they were all done with their rye

 

 

NOOOOOOOOOOOO!!!!

[Old Dusty]

10 minutes ago, Whiskey Dick said:

 

 

NOOOOOOOOOOOO!!!!

The single barrel program is definitely done. Down to gift shop only releases. Not sure about the small batch set proof production bottles.