At Long Last, American Single Malt Is Now An Official Category

American single malt is one of the fastest growing whiskey styles in the U.S., garnering droves of loyal devotees and steadily converting newcomers to the category into fans. But for many years the style existed without a legal definition, leading to some confusion among drinkers over what exactly an American single malt whiskey is. But that all changed yesterday, when the TTB announced that it was finalizing a standard of identity for American single malt.

Under the new rule, which is scheduled to go into effect on January 19, 2025, American single malt will be defined as a whiskey that is:

Mashed, distilled, and aged in the United States
Distilled from 100% malted barley at a single distillery, with a distillation proof of 160 (80% ABV) or less
Aged in new (charred or uncharred) or used oak barrels with a 700-liter maximum capacity
In addition to these criteria, American single malt can’t include neutral spirits, flavorings, or other blending materials. Caramel coloring is allowed, but the TTB requires distillers to disclose that on the labels. Also, similar to other styles of whiskey, American single malt that’s aged for at least 2 years can be labeled with the “straight” designation.

This decision has been nearly a decade in the making. It all started back in 2016 with the foundation of the American Single Malt Whiskey Commission (ASMWC), a group of craft single malt distillers who banded together to campaign for a standard of identity for the style. The following year, the TTB received petitions from Washington brandy house XO Alambic, Westland Distillery, and drinks multinational Rémy Cointreau—all written on behalf of the ASMWC—requesting an official definition for the category. More petitions came flooding in over the ensuing years, but the TTB wouldn’t really act on them until July 2022, when it published a proposed definition. That set of rules was nearly identical to the final one we have now, though it didn’t include the straight designation.

“We applaud TTB for hearing the call from distillers, purveyors and fans of American Single Malt, and formalizing a definition that supports and protects our producers both here and abroad,” said ASMWC President Steve Hawley in a statement. “It’s a momentous day for American Single Malt whiskey, and this is just the beginning of a bright future for the category.”

“This is great news for America’s distillers and spirits consumers,” added DISCUS president and CEO Chris Swonger. “Having this formal definition is going to protect the integrity of American Single Malt whiskey and drive experimentation, creativity and innovation in this popular category.”

Though the TTB’s new definition aligns perfectly with the provisional one put forward by the ASMWC, a few distillers have disagreed with some of the specific regulations. In its final rule document, the TTB outlines a number of petitions it received from distillers in response to the 2022 filing that objected to various parts of the definition.

For example, a number of distillers called for a rule stating that American Single Malts must be mashed, distilled, and aged all at the same distillery. The idea was inspired by similar regulations in the UK, but it was ultimately scrapped in order to protect distilleries like Seattle-based Copperworks, which relies on contract-brewed mash. Some like Washington’s Bainbridge Organic disagreed with the 100% malted barley mash requirement. Chattanooga Whiskey took things a step further than that, putting forward the argument that ASM mashbills should only require 51% malted barley—with the remaining percentage taken up by other malted grains—in order to allow for some experimentation. Others like Canyon Diablo Distillery in Arizona took issue with the cask requirements, arguing that non-American whisky casks and barrels made from non-American oak types shouldn’t be allowed as they would result in a “non-American product.”