Hey, Scotch nerds, it’s time to expand your horizons with this pair of American Single Malts.
To create the Brewer’s Coalition, the team at Virginia Distilling Company partnered with Chicago’s Goose Island Brewery and Hardywood Park Craft Brewery, based in Richmond, VA, to create the first brew barrel-influenced expressions with The Brewer’s Coalition Series.
Both Single Malts are bottled in bond at 100 proof (50% ABV). Allocation is tight here, with only about 20 barrels each being released, but they will be available nationally for a reasonable $50 MSRP for 700 ml.
What’s In The Bottle?
To create the Brewer’s Coalition Series, classic bottled-in-bond Virginia Co. malt is made in pot stills and matured in bourbon barrels for at least five years. Then, it is finished in interesting beer barrels from prominent distilleries. The first expression is finished in Goose Island Bourbon County Stout barrels, and its brother was aged in Hardywood Gingerbread Stout casks.
How Does It Taste?
Goose Island Bourbon County Stout Cask Finish American Single Malt: Company tasting notes promise “aromas of brown sugar, coffee beans, and honeycomb as they merge on the palate with malty chocolate, a hint of citrus, cinnamon, and hazelnuts.”
Hardywood Gingerbread Stout Cask Finish American Single Malt: Expect candied lemon peel, apricot, and bright ginger as they gently melt into the taste of walnuts, freshly baked gingerbread cookies, vanilla icing, and lingering baking spice.
John McCarthy is a spirit, travel, and lifestyle journalist, managing editor, and author of The Modern Gentleman and Whiskey Rebels: The Dreamers, Visionaries & Badasses Who Are Revolutionizing American Whiskey. McCarthy is also editor of Barleycorn Drinks and Director of Judging of the John Barleycorn Awards.
