Single Malt Frontier

Joined by our friend and fan, Donutfish aka Patrick, Randall prompted us to answer what we have bought blindly off of a recommendation. There's a bit of nerdery, Terroir, and some new labels to check out. A little more info on a 3 guys trilogy set, and an overall good whiskey talk.

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It's here, finally, Episode 11. With a lot of stuff and things happening with all 3 of us, we were happy to get together and chat. We share some of our opinions on a few negative things happening with ASM currently. We chat about some distillery's that are doing both peated and unpeated ASM's as well. So find that comfy spot and have a dram and a listen, Cheers!

For today's episode, we're uploading an interview that was originally a Patreon-exclusive broadcast on March 18th, 2026, but we're bringing this interview to the public podcast feed because Kitsap Whiskey Society is definitely a group to keep your eye on.

Today we're sitting down with Kolby, the founder of Kitsap Whiskey Society. Kitsap Whiskey Society selects single barrels from all over the country and, at least from what I've seen so far, favors picking American Single Malt Whiskey where possible, while still mixing it up. We'll geek out about whiskey, talk about Kolby's love of ASMW, get some details about Kitsap's pick process, learn about the intricacies of running a private whiskey club, talk about picking the absolute best whiskey from all over the country for their club's tastes, & talk a bit about their track record of getting access to special unique & exclusive casks.

After the first hour of the episode, we invited the Patreon audience to join the call and ask their questions directly to Kolby. Big thanks to Patrick aka Donutfisher for joining us on the video call. We decided to leave that segment in for the public video.

Tonight's whiskeys:

Old Line ASMW Single Barrel #16-0541, 65.6% ABV, Kitsap Whiskey Society & Annapolis Whiskey Club

Old Line ASMW Double Oak Series Sauternes Cask #21-SAUT03, 57.8% ABV, Kitsap Whiskey Society & Annapolis Whiskey Club

Andalusia Whiskey Co. Revenant Oak Peated ASMW Finished in an ex-Port Cask #855, 59% ABV, Kitsap Whiskey Society

Westward Whiskey "Pocket Rocket: Hazmat Proof", 70% ABV, Kitsap Whiskey Exclusive Release

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This week's guest is Ari Klafter, Head Distiller at Thornton Distilling Co in Thornton, Illinois.

This episode was originally livestreamed on Thursday 7/9, but due to ongoing technical difficulties we ended up audio-only and we pulled down the original livestream so we could edit out the false starts and the worst audio issues, for a podcast-quality reupload.

During the interview we'll be tasting through Thornton Signature Malt and Thornton Prairie Peat.

Thanks to Donutfisher for getting Thornton on our radar!

#asmw #americansinglemalt #whiskey #wearecraftspirits #thorntondistillingco

This week's whiskeys (* = provided to us by our guest):

- * Thornton Distilling Co. Signature Malt

- * Thornton Distilling Co. Prairie Peat

Find out more:

- Ari Klafter: https://www.instagram.com/dramboozled

- Thornton Distilling Co.: https://thorntondistilling.com and https://www.instagram.com/thorntondistilling

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If you like what we do, please like, subscribe, comment, and share!

- Support us on Patreon at https://www.patreon.com/SingleMaltFrontier and get extras and perks!

- Subscribe to our show here and at https://www.instagram.com/singlemaltfrontier

- Buy our glencairns! https://docs.google.com/forms/d/e/1FAIpQLSeIxRxNT_WdJx0gedh0Nuh4RtXLUo5WxbBtmlp4yk9me8IZ9A/viewform

- Follow Doug at https://www.instagram.com/demitastes and https://demitastes.com/

Companion channels:

- 3 Guys 1 Grain - https://www.youtube.com/@3Guys1Grain - 3 of your favorite ASMW-loving youtubers discuss ASMW from the consumer perspective

- Ranger's Respite (Phill) - https://www.youtube.com/@therangersrespite - Phill's whiskey reviews and commentary

- Off Topic Whiskey (Randall) - https://www.youtube.com/@OffTopicWhiskey - a podcast with a down-to-earth take on all things whiskey

- Freedom Malts (Jerm) - https://www.youtube.com/@Freedom_malts - home of the Blind Sample Showdown

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Barrel Picks:

Our McCarthy's Barrel #701 is now SOLD OUT. The 3 Guys 1 Grain Bon Vale picks are also sold out and shipped.

Stay tuned for the next round of barrel picks.

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More places to hang out and see ASMW discussion:

- The Single Malt Frontier Discord: https://discord.gg/2ZwbTZrzP

- The Whiskey Lodge Discord: https://discord.gg/KQGkBmtzPT

- ASMW reviews and more: https://maltrunners.com

- ASMW on Reddit: https://reddit.com/r/AmericanSMW

Disclaimer: While some products we discuss on our show have been provided to us free of charge by industry sources, this conversation is 100% unsponsored and candid. We give our unbiased opinions, discuss brands as they are relevant to the conversation, and retain full editorial control. For today's conversation, some of the samples were provided by our guest.

Want to create live streams like this? Check out StreamYard: https://streamyard.com/pal/d/5015366613991424

BONUS: I sat down with Randall from @OffTopicWhiskey for an interview on his show, of me! With Randall's permission I've reuploaded this episode on my feed.

We talk through my whole history with whiskey, whiskey tasting, whiskey reviewing, whiskey podcasting, and sip through 3 different whiskeys that are the biggest signpost whiskeys of my journey and my eras of whiskey.

Whiskeys for this episode:

- Yamazaki 12

- Laphroaig Cairdeas Fino Cask Finished

- McCarthy's Oregon Single Malt barrel 701 aged 6 years 8 months 15 days in an ex-Casa Magdalena Rum Cask

If you haven't already caught this on the Off Topic Whiskey feed, that probably means you aren't subscribed to Off Topic Whiskey. You should head over there and fix that ASAP on YouTube or your podcast platform of choice.

Cheers,

Doug

P.S. I loved Randall's thumbnail for this so I reused it with permission.

Caitlin Bartlemay returns to the SMF virtual studio Thursday 7/2 at 6:30pm PDT after entirely too long. We'll discuss our most favorite of ASMWs (McCarthy's of course); her upcoming panel appearance at Tales of the Cocktail; her recent, ongoing, and upcoming projects; her work on the board of ACSA; the Lost Lantern McCarthy's 10 year, and more.

If the past is any indication of the future you can also expect pro baking tips featuring the current seasonal fruits. 😊

#asmw #americansinglemalt #wearecraftspirits #podcast #cheerssteve

This week's whiskeys (* = provided to us by our guest):

- Lost Lantern McCarthy's 6 Year 2021-6, 55.6% ABV

- Lost Lantern McCarthy's 3 Year 2022-5, 57.1% ABV

- Lost Lantern McCarthy's 10 Year 2025-20, 59.3% ABV

- McCarthy's 6 Year MC6-21-01, 50% ABV

- McCarthy's 6 Year Rum Cask #701, 56.83% ABV

- McCarthy's 6 Year Oloroso Cask (2023), 56.0% ABV

- McCarthy's 6 Year PX Cask (2022), 56.13% ABV

- * McCarthy's 6 Year PX Cask (2024), 57.05% ABV

- Clear Creek Pear Brandy 15 Year Barrel #409, 52.3% ABV

- * Clear Creek Pear Brandy 15 Year Barrel #410, 52.5% ABV

Find out more:

- Caitlin Bartlemay: https://www.instagram.com/the_bartlemay

- Clear Creek: https://www.hrdspirits.com/clear-creek-distillery and https://www.instagram.com/clearcreekdistillery

- McCarthy's Oregon Single Malt Whiskey https://www.hrdspirits.com/mccarthys-oregon-single-malt and https://www.instagram.com/mccarthyswhiskey

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If you like what we do, please like, subscribe, comment, and share!

- Support us on Patreon at https://www.patreon.com/SingleMaltFrontier and get extras and perks!

- Subscribe to our show here and at https://www.instagram.com/singlemaltfrontier

- Buy our glencairns! https://docs.google.com/forms/d/e/1FAIpQLSeIxRxNT_WdJx0gedh0Nuh4RtXLUo5WxbBtmlp4yk9me8IZ9A/viewform

- Follow Doug at https://www.instagram.com/demitastes and https://demitastes.com/

Companion channels:

- 3 Guys 1 Grain - https://www.youtube.com/@3guys1grain - 3 of your favorite ASMW-loving youtubers discuss ASMW from the consumer perspective

- Ranger's Respite (Phill) - https://www.youtube.com/@therangersrespite - Phill's whiskey reviews and commentary

- Off Topic Whiskey (Randall) - https://www.youtube.com/@offtopicwhiskey - a podcast with a down-to-earth take on all things whiskey

- Freedom Malts (Jerm) - https://www.youtube.com/@freedom_malts - home of the Blind Sample Showdown

---

Barrel Picks:

Our McCarthy's Barrel #701 is now SOLD OUT. The 3 Guys 1 Grain Bon Vale picks are also sold out and shipped.

Stay tuned for the next round of barrel picks.

---

More places to hang out and see ASMW discussion:

- The Single Malt Frontier Discord: https://discord.gg/2ZwbTZrzP

- The Whiskey Lodge Discord: https://discord.gg/KQGkBmtzPT

- ASMW reviews and more: https://maltrunners.com

- ASMW on Reddit: https://reddit.com/r/AmericanSMW

Disclaimer: While some products we discuss on our show have been provided to us free of charge by industry sources, this conversation is 100% unsponsored and candid. We give our unbiased opinions, discuss brands as they are relevant to the conversation, and retain full editorial control. For today's conversation, some of the samples were provided by our guest.

Want to create live streams like this? Check out StreamYard: https://streamyard.com/pal/d/5015366613991424

There's a little about a small malt house turned distillery winning awards. Doug gets fired up, and we may or may not have mentioned glizzys....

This week we're revisiting Hinterhaus with Owner/Distiller Nate Randall to talk about the award-winning Hinterhaus Singularity ASM and the latest batch of Hinterhaus Discovery (batch 6). We'll revisit the earlier batches of Hinterhaus we have on hand as we go through the tasting.

Want to create live streams like this? Check out StreamYard: https://streamyard.com/pal/d/5015366613991424