Old Line American Single Malt
Cask Strength | 62.2% ABV
Score: 6/10
Good stuff.
TL;DR
Much potential, much creativity, and much still to come
A young distillery marching with the American Single Malt Whiskey Commission.
Much has been said about the American Single Malt Whiskey Commission and its efforts to petition the government to establish formal standards for a category known as American Single Malt.
While some websites and YouTube channels have discussed it – sometimes in passing – I get the feeling many are only tangentially familiar with the push.
The more I read about American Single Malt and the American Single Malt Whiskey Commission (ASMWC) the more fascinating the subject becomes. Formed in 2016, it has been on the crusade to have the American federal government codify firm regulations establishing the formal designation of American Single Malt. After six years, the federal government posted proposed regulations to codify the designation of American Single Malt, and invited public comment. The opportunity to provide public comment ended on September 27th. It’s unsure when the government will make a formal declaration, but many are waiting with heightened anticipation.
My own fascination with the push for an American Single Malt designation is leading me to a wandering journey to sample both upstart and established American single malts. To coin and bastardise a phrase: What a long, strange trip it will be. But where to start?
Certainly there will be interest in local distilleries, but I begin with the ASMWC’s website. Emblazoned there are the nine founding member distilleries, and then another 86 distilleries listed that have joined the commission. These 95 distilleries come from all parts of the United States, representing enormous regional terroir/climate differences and enormous variations of malting, vatting, fermentation, distilling, finishing, and blending techniques.
And so, a few weeks ago when I took a trip to the Washington, DC area to visit a friend, a detour to one of those ASMWC distilleries was put on the schedule. After a morning at Fort McHenry, we made our way into one of Baltimore’s off-the-tourist-path sections. This particular distillery is in an old commercial laundry building and instead of a pagoda roof, we were drawn to the site by the lettering on an old brick chimney down the block from a main road. So began the introduction to Old Line Distillery. First, let’s review the liquid.
“While some websites and YouTube channels have discussed it – sometimes in passing – I get the feeling that many are only tangentially familiar with the push”
Review
Old Line American Single Malt Whiskey, NAS, Cask Strength, 62.2% ABV
US$55 at the distillery
Nose
For 62.2% ABV, I was expecting more of a potent nose. I seem to recall bottles on my shelf with 50% ABV with a similar potency. Plums mixed with oak and wood tannins. Barrel. A bit of baking spice and the sense of old furniture with lingering alcohol is in the distance. Not unexpectedly, the more nosing, the ABV makes no qualms about making itself known.
Palate
The first sense is a bourbon-like hit that washes over the tongue. Pronounced sweet oak. After the initial hit, the plum from the nose combines with the strong barrel influence and in the background there’s a complimentary and faint pipe tobacco and spice taste. These flavours are gradually and materially pushed to the side come the mid-palate, as the 62.2% ABV decides to make its showing at this taste party. The finish sees the alcohol come to the forefront: A tingling starts in the cheeks, going to the back of the throat, and then up into the sinuses. The other flavours are still present, but they’ve now been bumped to the back of the bus. In bourbon circles, high ABV pours often result in “the Kentucky hug”, which is a warming sensation in your throat and chest as the alcohol goes from glass to mouth, to throat, and down the esophagus. Here, the Kentucky hug doesn’t get quite down to the chest, but it’s in my cheeks and back of my throat. Maybe a Kentucky hand shake? All said, good flavours but with some hard edges.
With a few drops of water, the Kentucky hug goes away and the flavours are brought to the front and stay there through a moderately long finish. The taste of the oak barrel is forward while the plum, tobacco and spices are a bit more prominent, but in nice balance. That old furniture scent is present in the taste – though very faint. It all works well together. A nice drink, but even with a few drops of water, you’re still aware of a higher octane in your glass, and edges remain.
The Dregs
Old Line is born from a very intriguing story. The founders, Mark McLaughlin and Arch Watkins, are both retired Navy aviators, both live in Baltimore, and both are whiskey aficionados. The desire to start their own distillery was born roughly a decade ago from the fact they saw a dearth of distilleries in and around the Baltimore area. The desire was there, but they knew they needed some education and started inquiring and educating themselves as to how they could best start their own distillery.
In 2015, one of the founders went to a distilling conference in Seattle to research the industry and learn some pointers as to how to begin the first steps toward building a successful distillery. While there, a meeting with Bob Stilnovich of Golden Distillery was a bit of kismet. Golden Distillery was one of the first American single malt distilleries and one of the best (its Samish Bay Single Malt won best-in-class at the 2012 American Distilling Institute). Bob, at the point of retirement, was looking to sell his distillery. Long story short, both sides hit it off, and in 2016 Mark and Arch temporarily moved to Samish Island, Washington (north of Seattle) and learned from Bob how to make whiskey. The two new apprentices learned all aspects and worked all aspects of the distilling process, bought the equipment, and brought the equipment and their knowledge back to Baltimore.
While trying to find a suitable location in Baltimore, Mark and Arch wanted to start distilling and not wait for all of the Baltimore facets to come into line and they partnered with Middle West Spirits of Columbus, Ohio. The owners of Middle West were, at that time, looking to expand their production capacity and a partnership with Old Line worked wonders for both.
Old Line’s founders learned more techniques from the people at Middle West, and for a year Mark and Arch traveled back and forth to Columbus, Ohio to make their single malt with Middle West’s equipment. Ultimately, production was turned over to the Middle West team. Middle West – with Mark and Arch’s on-site participation of each production run – distills the whiskey and then ships the liquid to Baltimore, where it is barrelled and aged on site.
In 2017, Old Line Spirits opened its Baltimore doors to the public. The old commercial laundry facility is in the Highlandtown industrial section of Baltimore. I’m told by locals they would prefer the description as the “post-industrial Highlandtown neighbourhood.” While the Highlandtown section of Baltimore will not be confused with the Speyside region of Scotland, good whiskey comes from many different venues and surroundings.
Old Line is far from being a large distillery and its distribution is not presently significant outside the Baltimore, Maryland area. Speaking with the people at the distillery, they’re clearly proud of their single malt expressions – in addition to the cask strength version, there’s an American Single Malt at 43% ABV, a Caribbean rum cask finish single malt, and they’ve had releases of Madeira cask finish single malt, port wine cask finish single malt, sherry cask finish single malt, and a peated single malt. Other past expressions are seen on their website. It’s clear in appreciating the relatively short time it’s been in existence and seeing the many expressions that have been bottled, Old Line is focused on experimentation, learning, and improvisation.
I had the great fortune to speak with Old Line’s brand ambassador, Charlie Stein. He is gracious with his time, he provides great humour, and is a wealth of information. I had suspected, and he confirmed, that Old Line uses virgin charred American white oak barrels. This would help explain the very forward oak barrel influence and resulting immediate bourbon-like notes I experienced with my cask strength bottle of single malt. He chatted about Old Line’s desire to be true to the grains used and to keep their whiskies natural. This led me to point out the one noticeable mis-step – from my vantage point – that I found with Old Line.
Presently, there’s no indication on Old Line’s bottles whether the whiskey is natural colour nor whether their whiskey is chill-filtered. Charlie was quick to say that Old Line prides itself on natural whiskies – no colour is ever added, and their whiskies are not chill-filtered. In fact, they distill only to 140 proof (instead of a more usual and financially beneficial 160 proof) to ensure more of the congeners remain in the distillate which results in more spirit and character remaining from the grain as possible. Those are wonderful attributes and should be shouted out loudly and displayed proudly. However, at present, there is no such information on the bottles. Transparency is a simple step, but a step that is unfortunately often overlooked.
My pet peeve aside, I tip my cap to Old Line. Fascinating story and wonderful people. Good whiskey that can trace its roots to award winning expressions from the Puget Sound area of Washington state, it has great influence from a team in Columbus, and is now growing in Baltimore. When thinking of the ranking to give this bottle, I waffled between a 6 and 7. While it’s very worthy of my time, I must settle on the fact the bottle I have is a 6 in Dramface’s ranking scale, which is. a good score. This tasty cask strength bottle cost me $55 – very reasonable, indeed. And, as a fan, I encourage people to give this a try if they find it or can get to Baltimore. It’s a young whiskey, but the flavours are good; it’s a solid dram that I enjoy.
Success is hardly drawn with a straight line, and I’m eager to see how Old Line progresses as time moves forward.
Score: 6/10
Tried this? Share your thoughts in the comments below. OS
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