This website uses cookies so that we can provide you with the best user experience possible. Cookie information is stored in your browser and performs functions such as recognising you when you return to our website and helping our team to understand which sections of the website you find most interesting and useful.
News
Southern Distilling offers American single malt contract distilling
On the heels of newly recognised rules for the style, North Carolina’s Southern Distilling is the first to add American single malt to its contract offerings.
Earlier this month, the TTB passed guidelines outlining American single malt as an official whiskey style. Since the ruling, the industry has responded, mostly with praise for the decision, with one dissent offered by Minnesota distillery Brother Justus.
There continues to be ripple effects of the news throughout American whiskey, with North Carolina’s Southern Distilling Company announcing that it will now be offering contract distillation services for American single malt.
“Since we established the company in 2013, we have always embraced both heritage and innovation,” co-founder and CEO Pete Barger said. “I can’t think of a better way to do that than opening our doors to many more American single malt whiskey clients across the country and to our international partners.”
Since it was founded, Southern Distilling has been a contract distillation partner to more than 140 spirits brands globally. The brand also produces its own Bourbon and rye whiskeys, and its 36,000 square-foot distillery, located on a 20-acre campus, can produce more than 20,000 barrels annually.
The distillery is taking immediate orders for 2025 new-fill and can make sample kits available for interested parties. According to Southern Distilling, its fermentation and distillation system are particularly well suited for single malt production at scale.
While American single malt appears to be on the rise, the contract distilling landscape in America remains somewhat in flux. In November, MGP, one of the country’s largest industrial-scale distilleries, announced that it would be decreasing production in 2025, focusing on its branded spirits business instead.
At the same time, new operations focused on contract distilling like Eastern Light and Whiskey House of Kentucky have broken ground or started production in the past year. The key for non-distilling producers, as The Spirits Business outlined in its 2024 American Whiskey World Spirits Report, will be to establish a strong brand identity through inventive grain bills, cask finishes, or some other technique that provides a point of differentiation.
In 2023, Southern Distilling released Hunting Creek Straight Rye as part of its mission to reignite North Carolina’s whiskey legacy.
Related news
Hirsch debuts American single malt whiskey