American Whiskey Club

Learning Whiskey the American Way

We seek out unique expressions of American whiskeys that we find to be particularly delectable and buy an allotment. The whiskey you receive in our club is meticulously taste-selected by our devoted staff. It is unique to D&M as well as your personal collection!

By joining our club, you will receive a bottle every 3 months of the best that American Whiskey has to offer – shipped right to your home or office along with background material on the producer and our staff’s tasting notes on the product.
The product cost tops out at $100 per shipment, but usually much lower. ( Does not include tax and or shipping)

In September 2014 our members received 2 Fabulous Bottles.

Colorado Gold Rye and Smooth Ambler 8 Year Old Bourbon

This past spring was a busy one for us here at D & M tasting and selecting whiskey for you, our club members.This being a charmed time for American Whiskey we couldn’t pass up the chance to send two bottles your way for the price of one bottle of Scotch. We are now reaping the benefits of our work and the whiskey is in house. From when we first began this American Whiskey Club until now, much has changed in the world of Craft American Whiskey. Both of these distilleries have operations that are defined as ‘Grain to Glass’, with all operations happening in house. However, the Old Scout is a product of the open secret of American Craft, not all barrels were born at the place listed on the final label. We here at D & M suspend judgement in saying that this is simply the way that the craft whiskey industrymcurrently operates. For more information you may want to check out Eric Felten’s article on rye.Your first bottle began and spent its formative years in the town of Cedaredge, Colorado, home to 3,000 people and some damn fine whiskey. We first introduced you to the joys of Colorado Gold last June with their (Wheated)Bourbon, and we are pleased to offer you one of the first ten barrels of their Grain to Glass Rye. A refresher on Colorado Gold: they are in far western Colorado with topography closer to what we associate with the American Southwest rather than Rocky Mountain High. We here at D & M like to think that with the literal minded nature of its founders they named this place for what it was, where the mountains meet the mesa some 6,ooo feet above sea level.

They do benefit from that wall of mountains to their East as it collects and filters some of the finest water in the United States. The community from which they come is heavy in Agriculture, which suits the makers of Colorado Gold just fine as it gives them access to local grain to turn into whiskey. The first smell of the Colorado Gold Rye Whiskey shows a light rye note with more present star anise with the littlest bit of butter pickle. Once you put this on your tongue more grain driven notes come through with fresh rye bread covered in raw honey predominating. The honey note hits on the mid palate and continues through to the grain focused end.

Next up for you is the Smooth Ambler Old Scout 8 Year Old cask strength. Smooth Ambler is a grain to glass distillery located in West Virginia. Smooth Ambler was begun in 2010 and they were intimately aware that quality whiskey takes time to produce, so they worked the contacts they had in the industry to find whiskey that they would be willing to put under their label. John Little, the Master Distiller, has been making fantastic gin and young yearling whiskey in the meantime, while the ‘Old Scout’ label represents whiskey they purchase from others. Your bottle is stock from the former Seagram’s then LDI now MGP Distillery in Lawrenceburg, Indiana.(This is the source for much of the ‘craft’ rye on the market from Angel’s Envy to Tempelton.) Your bottle is a high rye bourbon made of a mash bill of 60% corn, 36% rye and 4% malt, which is the highest rye content of any bourbon that John Little has come across. The barrel that we have chosen for you spent its first seven years in an Indiana rick house before being selected by Smooth Ambler and being transferred to West Virginia to age for an additional year. John Little has the following to say by email about how they prepared this whiskey for bottling: “We bottled this [D & M]private cask selection, as always, with no dilution water and minimal filtration – the bare minimum to remove the bits from the barrel. This leaves a product that is as close to tapping a barrel in the rick house as you can get. Enjoy!” The Smooth Ambler Old Scout 8 Year Old hits you with an intense pepper spice kick that is backed up with rich caramel and vanilla. When given time in the glass the rye is mellowed out and gives way to more of molasses note with hints of candied apricots. The palate is engulfed with rich flavors of candied fruits and caramel, but has that nice spice from the rye to make this a very well balanced. The richness follows all the way to the finish, ending on somenice oak notes.