St. George Single Malt Review (Lot 21)

By Richard Thomas

Rating: A-

California’s St. George Spirits is an example of what I call craft distilling before there was craft distilling. Founded by Jörg Rupf in 1982. After Rupf had spent more than a decade in brandy-making, ex-nuclear scientist and former brewer Lance Winters showed up on Rupf’s doorstep, looking to make whiskey and with a bottle of home-make as his portfolio. He made his first batch of American Malt at St. George’s in 1997, and has been there ever since.

Lot 1 of St. George’s Single Malt came out in 2000, and they have been releasing successive annual malts since, which is how we have come to Lot 21 from last year. Dave Smith, the Head Distiller and Blender at St. George, chose 26 barrels from the inventory to concoct Lot 21. The mash is very much a brewer’s creation, utilizing two-row barley sourced from Wisconsin (pale malt, crystal malt, chocolate malt, black patent malt) and German Bamberg malt (unroasted barley smoked over beech and alder wood). Those 26 casks range in age from 4.5 to 10 years and cask blends older than the distillery, and the actual cask stock encompasses used-Kentucky bourbon barrels, used-Tennessee whiskey barrels, American and French oak apple brandy casks, Agricole rum casks, and California Sauternes-style casks. Lot 21 was bottled at 43% ABV.

The Whiskey
A glass of Lot 21 has a golden cast to it, which isn’t surprising when you consider how much used wood was used to age it. The scent was like a hunk of freshly baked barley bread, smeared with a rich marmalade and served under the shade of a pine tree. Sipping reveals a whiskey that is strongly malt driven, full of honey sweetness, but also notes of charred wood. These aspects are gently subsumed in a lapping wave of earthy-but-sweet chocolate and ash. The finish went down light, herbaceous and honey sweet.

While speaking about my book American Whiskey over the weekend, the subject of Lot 21 came up, and it’s acclaim was universal. The bar owner, the scribblers like myself, and the drinkers who knew it (that soon became most of those attending) all agreed, it’s a lovely pour. If you like American Malts, this is a must-add to your liquor shelf, assuming you can get it for something like it’s official list price.

The Price
700 cases of St. George Single Malt were released in November 2021’s Lot 21, with the bottles therein going for $100 each.