American single malt is having a second. As soon as seen as a curiosity subsequent to bourbon and scotch, it’s now competing (and successful) on the worldwide stage. On the Worldwide Whisky Competitors (IWC) 2025, a lineup of American single malts took prime honors in two key classes, exhibiting simply how far the model has come.
From smoky high-altitude drams to farm-to-glass expressions, the winners reveal the range and maturity of American single malt whiskey. Under, we break down the highest three whiskeys in every class, how they have been made, and what makes them stand out.
Finest American Single Malt Whiskey – 1st Place: Hogback Peated Smoke Single Malt Whiskey
Rating: 96.39 pts
Tasting Notes: Smoke, oak, peat, sweetly glazed BBQ meat, smoked beef jerky, vanilla, pepper, brine, blackberry & apple pie
Purchase Now: $65
Hogback’s successful single malt comes from Boulder County, Colorado, however its roots lie firmly in Scotland. Founder Graeme Wallace, initially from close to Islay, got down to make an American whiskey that might maintain its personal alongside conventional scotch.
The mash invoice is straightforward: 100% Scottish malted barley, dried with peat smoke from Wallace’s homeland. That peated malt is shipped to Colorado, the place it’s mashed, fermented, and distilled utilizing conventional strategies. The spirit is then aged for no less than three years in virgin American oak barrels.
Using contemporary oak offers it a daring American character, however the peat smoke retains one foot in Scotland. Bottled at 100 proof (50% ABV) and non-chill filtered, it’s a whiskey that balances smoky depth with construction and depth.
Hogback calls it “The American Scotch.” The IWC judges appear to agree.
2nd Place: Root Shoot American Single Malt Bottled-in-Bond
Rating: 93.78 pts
Tasting Notes: Honey, caramel, herbs, floral notes, heather, plums, cherries, chocolate, ginger, cinnamon, refined oak
Purchase Now: Colorado Solely
Root Shoot’s entry is as native as American whiskey will get. Made solely on a fifth-generation household farm in Loveland, Colorado, this Bottled-in-Bond single malt makes use of 100% Colorado-grown barley that’s malted simply down the street by the identical household.
Distilled on a conventional pot nonetheless and aged for 4 years in medium-char virgin American oak barrels, the whiskey meets all the necessities for bottled-in-bond standing. It’s made by a single distillery, throughout a single season, aged in a federally bonded warehouse, and bottled at 100 proof (50% ABV).
What units Root Shoot aside is the grain-to-glass method. Each step, from rising the barley to filling the barrel, takes place inside a 30-mile radius. The result’s a whiskey that displays its place and course of, and one which’s shortly incomes nationwide consideration.
third Place: Stranahan’s Diamond Peak
Rating: 93.58 pts
Tasting Notes: Dried apricot, crème brûlée, tropical fruit, brown sugar, cola spice
Buy Now: $59
Stranahan’s has been a serious participant in American single malt for years, and its Diamond Peak sequence continues to evolve with every launch. The model that took bronze on the IWC 2025 is a rum cask-finished expression made by marrying 6 to 9-year-old Stranahan’s whiskey and ending it in Caribbean rum barrels.
These barrels come from the Dominican Republic, Barbados, and Martinique, and their affect brings a tropical richness to the Colorado-distilled malt. The mash invoice is 100% malted barley, and the core maturation takes place in new American oak barrels earlier than the rum cask end provides its last layer.
Bottled at 90 proof (45% ABV), Diamond Peak is an annual restricted launch that lets Stranahan’s experiment with cask affect. The rum end proved a success with the IWC judges, highlighting the distillery’s knack for mixing traditional construction with artistic aptitude.
Finest Single Malt 10 Yr and Older Whiskey (USA) – 1st Place: Stranahan’s Mountain Angel 10 Yr
Rating: 92.02 pts
Tasting Notes: Oak, pear, caramel, stone fruits, peaches, apricots, nutmeg
Purchase Now: $110
Stranahan’s made historical past with this one. Mountain Angel 10 Yr is likely one of the first American single malts to hold a double-digit age assertion and nonetheless be matured solely in new charred American oak. That’s no small feat, particularly at 5,280 toes above sea degree.
The whiskey is constituted of 100% malted barley and aged for a full decade in new barrels in Stranahan’s Denver warehouse. The high-altitude getting older setting ends in a dramatic angel’s share (over 80% of the whiskey is misplaced to evaporation), which concentrates the spirit left behind.
This expression is bottled at 90 proof (45% ABV) and launched in very restricted portions. Growing older one thing this lengthy in contemporary oak and having it come out balanced isn’t any straightforward job, and it clearly impressed the IWC panel.
2nd Place: Defiant (1) Whisky
Rating: 90.89 pts
Tasting Notes: Malt, caramel, vanilla, oak, pepper
Purchase Now: $100
Defiant looks like the odd one out in a class reserved for whiskeys aged 10 years or extra. I can not discover any reference to an age assertion this excessive in evaluations or model supplies. Some sources counsel the whisky is aged for less than 60 days. Nevertheless, this North Carolina single malt was entered into and received a medal on this class on the 2025 IWC. So, that’s what I’m reporting on.
Created from 100% two-row malted barley and proofed with Appalachian spring water, Defiant skips the normal barrel-aging route altogether. As an alternative of getting older in full-sized casks, the spirit is steeped with toasted American white oak spirals inside chrome steel tanks. This accelerated getting older technique extracts taste and character in a matter of months moderately than years. It additionally means, nonetheless, that for the reason that definition of American Single Malt was ratified by the TTB, Defiant Whisky not qualifies.
Past that, the whisky has stunning depth given its youth. Bottled at 82 proof (41% ABV), it provides a contemporary tackle maturation with out making an attempt to mimic older whiskeys. It’s a daring method, and IWC’s silver medal exhibits that innovation can stand toe-to-toe with custom.
third Place: Stranahan’s Mountain Angel 12 Yr
Rating: 90.16 pts
Tasting Notes: Caramelized nectarine, fig paste, lavender, blueberry compote, ginger lemon tart, raspberry cheesecake, blackberry strudel, vanilla wafer, oak, maduro cigar wrapper
Purchase Now: $100
Stranahan’s took house two of the three medals on this class, and the Mountain Angel 12 Yr exhibits why. That is the distillery’s oldest whiskey thus far, beginning with the identical malt base and new oak maturation as the ten Yr, then ending in Port wine casks from Portugal.
The Port end provides a deep layer of fruit and richness to the already concentrated base whiskey. Growing older for 12 years in Denver’s dry, high-altitude local weather means an enormous quantity of evaporation. So what stays is dense, flavorful, and sophisticated.
Launched at cask energy (94.6 proof), this whiskey is aimed squarely at collectors and fanatics. It’s a uncommon instance of an American single malt that embraces each prolonged getting older and daring ending with out tipping into extra.
