ASW Distillery Wins Double Gold Medal for Its Duality Double Malt

Atlanta’s ASW Distillery wins five total medals at the prestigious San Francisco World Spirits Competition, including Double Gold and Gold Medals

ATLANTA (April 23, 2018) - This year’s prestigious San Francisco World Spirits Competition has selected from over 2,200 spirits entries to award Georgia’s trailblazing whiskey distillery, ASW Distillery, numerous medals, including a Double Gold for their Double Malt Whiskey, Duality Double Malt. Duality provides the State of Georgia its first-ever Double Gold Medal whiskey.

ABOUT THE RESULTS

Located in the heart of Atlanta, ASW Distillery has been distilling for just two years and is one of the few distilleries in the world to employ a method using traditional, Scottish-style pot stills and innovative, Southern-style grain-in distillation. All in all, ASW Distillery’s medals include:

Double Gold, for their Duality Double Malt Whiskey, the World’s 1st Whiskey of Its Kind, distilled at ASW’s Armour Yards facility from a revolutionary grain-in mash of 50% malted rye and 50% cherry-smoked malted barley.

Gold, for their Cask Strength Fiddler Georgia Heartwood Bourbon finished on Georgia oak from Jackson County that ASW Distillery’s Head Distiller, Justin Manglitz, harvested and hand-charred himself.

Silver, for their Ameireaganach Huddled Mashes No. 1 Single Malt Whiskey, a limited series of rotating Single Malt Whiskies distilled at ASW, with this first release, Huddled Mashes No. 1, a light, fruit-forward Speyside-style American Single Malt Whiskey.

Silver, for their Resurgens RyeS, one of the few ryes on the market distilled from 100% malted rye (vs. the unmalted rye of traditional rye whiskies), and a name redolent of Atlanta’s city motto meant to evoke the renaissance of rye as a whiskey category.

Silver, for their flagship Fiddler Unison Bourbon, which sees ASW “fiddling” with a high-wheat bourbon from Indiana for which they spent over two years foraging by marrying it with their house-distilled high-malt bourbon, a combination that took nearly a year to perfect.

ABOUT THE COMPETITION

Established in 2000, the San Francisco World Spirits Competition bills itself as “one of the world’s most respected spirits competitions”, with renowned judges including Kim Haasarud, former Iron Chef judge, contributor to numerous national publications, and leading author of six books on cocktails & mixology; Dale DeGroff, James Beard Award recipient and “one of the world’s foremost cocktail experts” according to the New York Times; and David Wondrich, former Drinks Correspondent for Esquire and author of numerous books on the history of spirits.

For this year’s San Francisco World Spirits Competition, the panel of over 40 spirits industry veterans evaluated over 2,200 spirits from all over the world -- the most in the Competition’s history.

Selective in which spirits receive medals, the Competition’s awards include:

Double Gold: “Awarded to the very few entries that receive a Gold medal rating by all members of the judging panel; these are among the finest products in the world.”

Gold: “Exceptional spirits that are near the pinnacle of achievement; these products set the standard for their categories.”

Silver: “Outstanding spirits that show refinement, finesse, and complexity; these winners are among the best examples of their categories.”

Bronze: “Well-crafted spirits that are commercially sound, modestly attractive, and free from significant flaws; these winners are excellent examples of their categories.”

Regarding the distillery’s Double Gold, Gold, and three Silvers, ASW’s Head Distiller, Justin Manglitz, remarks: “Five years ago I had an idea for a pioneering type of whiskey of unique composition and made with a process combining Scottish traditions with American techniques. Double Malt Whiskey would be a new thing, rooted in the past, and full of my heart and soul. Then our CEO, Jim [Chasteen], came up with the name 'Duality' and our CMO, Chad [Ralston] designed an amazing label complete with a Scottish-Gaelic translation of Shakespeare's MacBeth -- the passage that begins 'Double double, toil and trouble. Fire burn and cauldron bubble...'.

From the first sip of the test batch I knew it was something special and would be one of ASW Distillery's core brands. Receiving a Double Gold from the preeminent spirits competition in America is exhilarating, and I hope it leads more Georgians and Americans towards broadening their whiskey horizons and towards the same commitment to seeking out genuine Craft spirits that they already undertake when choosing beers. And know this, we're just getting started at ASW Distillery.”

The results come just three months after the distillery doubled production earlier this year. Still to come this year for ASW: opening their second tasting room in the West End neighborhood’s Lee & White Development (joining Monday Night Brewing, Wild Heaven Brewery & Honeysuckle Gelato, among others); releasing a heavily peated edition of Ameireaganach Single Malt; and releasing a new whiskey line towards the end of the year.

ABOUT ASW DISTILLERY

Located in Atlanta’s Armour Yards neighborhood, with neighbors including East Pole Coffee, Georgia Organics, and Fox Bros. BBQ kiosk, ASW Distillery crafts some of the most unique, small-batch whiskies in the country. ASW uses traditional, Scottish-style pot stills, but adds a Southern twist by leaving the grains in throughout the entire process (grain-in distillation), rather than removing the grains before distilling, as with single malt Scotches.

The company’s first product, American Spirit Whiskey - Atlanta's original Post-Prohibition whiskey brand - hit the shelves in 2011, after founders Jim Chasteen and Charlie Thompson, friends from the University of Georgia, decided to put their passion for whiskey to good use. Since beginning production at their Atlanta distillery in spring 2016, they have released Fiddler Bourbon (four editions); Resurgens Rye; Duality Double Malt; Ameireaganach Single Malt; Armour & Oak Apple Brandy made with 100% North Georgia apples from Blue Ridge, Georgia’s Mercier Orchards; and a number of specialty releases, including The Crossing Quadruple Malt, a portion of whose proceeds benefited Atlanta’s non-profit helping hospitality workers in times of need, The Giving Kitchen.

Connect with the ASW Distillery team at //Facebook.com/ASWDistillery or on Instagram @ASWDistillery. Please direct any additional inquiries to Chad Ralston, available by email at chad@aswdistillery.com and by phone at 678-592-5103.