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Westward American Single Malt

Westward American Single Malt

Westward was founded in 2004 by Christian Krogstad, the early days of American craft distilling. While inspired by elder whiskies such as scotch, Westward also is a proponent of exploration, where according to their website they “brew like a pale ale, distill like a single malt, and age like a bourbon.” Their whiskey is made using an American pale ale brew that is then distilled twice before being aged in charred new American oak barrels. The Westward American Single Malt is their flagship offering and the foundation for their other whiskies, which often have some kind of creative cask finishing. 

Spirit of Hven Seven Stars No. 5 Alioth

Spirit of Hven Seven Stars No. 5 Alioth

The Spirit of Hven is a craft distillery located on the island of Ven, which lies in the Öresund strait between Denmark and Sweden. It is also a conference and hotel resort, replete with restaurant and pub. It is a remarkably small grain-to-glass distillery, which is why their releases are so often limited. The Spirit of Hven make a number of spirits but it is clear they are fans of single malt whisky. And astrology, as shown by their beaker-shaped bottles and copiously detailed product sheets. The Seven Stars is a series of single malts, each named after one of the stars in the Ursa Major (Latin for “Great Bear”) constellation, the third brightest modern constellation in the night sky. It is more familiarly known as the Big Dipper. One of the stars, Polaris, is also known as North Star. The fifth in the series is Alioth, which comes from the Arabic alyat al-hamal (“the sheep’s fat tail”), and is the brightest star in the constellation.

FEW Single Malt

FEW Single Malt

FEW Spirits trades a lot on their location and story, but they have a right to. Housed in the home of the US temperance movement, owner Paul Hletko struggled to change the prohibition-era ordinances still on the town law books to be able to get his distillery running. Started in 2011, FEW makes their spirits grain-to-glass. The distillery has several offerings and the labels feature woodcut prints of wonders from the 1893 World’s Colombian Exposition in Chicago. The distillery’s name shares initials with Francis Elizabeth Willard (1839–1898), founder of the Woman’s Christian Temperance Union, which is based in Evanston. This single malt is not one of their current offerings but has been in the past, so can be still be found on shelves, with the idea it could be revived in the future.