Get a Taste of Our Past with Wallace's Malt Whiskey

Mar 15

HK's father (Howard) loved Single Malt Scotch Whiskey. After a long day supporting the community through development and management of "Section 8" housing, there was nothing better than kicking back with some smooth Jazz and Glenfiddich. The stress of building community in a troubled system lead to an appreciation for downtime with the family and the finer things in life. As boys, HK and I got to enjoy his Mother's southern cooking and swimming in the lake. As we grew older, we began to appreciate the hard work that made all those small moments possible. Hk's father passed away in 2010 from complications with cancer. He left a huge hole in HK's life, and his memories will be with us forever.

A few months later, HK's mother (Anne) suggested that HK should start a brewery. As his best friend, I was all in. So, we started brewing. We learned some lessons the hard way, but we actually made some pretty good beer.

The time came for expensive brewing school or professional experience, so I packed up and moved to Colorado. I was fortunate to land a job with Avery Brewing Company on day 3, and I told HK to move out to this new found land of milk and honey. HK eventually found a job with Upslope Brewing, where he quickly learned many tools of the trade. One of the Upslope regulars owned Vapor Distillery in Boulder. HK and Ted started talking and soon started a business welding copper stills. I purchased their first still and started distilling beer from the brewery. Around that time, my mother passed away and it was time to get serious about starting a business. There were already like 400 breweries in Colorado, and we enjoyed making whiskey, so Single Malt Whiskey became our goal.

As HK and I started to raise funds, we sold potential investors on the barrel aged "bierschnaps" I had distilled from beer. Thank god it was a honey barrel. As per usual, we decided to make things more complicated and both marry our significant others the year we opened Abbott & Wallace Distilling. Therefore, we needed whiskey. Naturally, we worked with Left Hand Brewing to source beer to distill down and age in small barrels just in time for our nuptials. The timing coincided with our Grand Opening in June of 2017. We launched Longtucky Spirits with sugar beet spirit straight off the still and (rapid) aged Malt Whiskey. Distilling beer into whiskey quickly became a delicious tradition and a nod to our past.

We have since fallin’ in love with Bourbon and Rye Whiskey, but every year we seem to lay down more distilled beer barrels. Some of our wedding whiskey went into large barrels for extended aging. Six years later, Wallace's Malt Whiskey was born. Our oldest expression and a throwback to our brewing days and memories growing up. The 6 year old barrels were blended with a 2.5 year whiskey we distilled from a stout beer brewed without hops. The resulting whiskey is smooth yet complex. You can taste the roasted malt, chocolate and toffee from the beer base. The new American oak barrels provide a classic vanilla and caramel finish. Wallace's drinks like an American Single Malt Whiskey, but it is a truly unique expression.