Estate Whiskey Alliance Rolls Out Initial Round of Certified Products Three early adopters reflect on how the organization fits with their distilleries’ goals Written by Gabe Toth
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fter more than a year of planning, coordinating, organizing, committee work, and incremental advances, the Estate Whiskey Alliance has crossed its Rubicon, announcing the first round of Estate Whiskey Certified products. The group, officially founded by the University of Kentucky and a small group of distilleries in summer 2024, certified its first product in April. That whiskey, Star Hill Farm wheat whiskey, was followed by more than a dozen additional SKUs from craft distillers in the United States and Canada in the following months. Star Hill is named for the 1,100-acre farm where Maker’s Mark, which has thrown its weight behind the effort, is located. The Maker’s Mark distillery is located on that site specifically for its connection to nature and central access to Kentucky farm country, according to master distiller Blake Layfield. “We believe that bourbon is nature-distilled: that it's water, it's oak, it's grains, it's yeast, it's time. How you manipulate and articulate those variables creates the diversity of products that you see on the shelf, and we believe by nurturing the land, respecting our waterways, it not only creates the most complex and flavorful whiskeys, but it also ensures the long-term consistency and sustainability, the ability to make something that lasts for
a long period of time,” he said. “We believe that the Estate Whiskey Alliance really aligns perfectly with that philosophy that Maker's Mark already has. The EWA specifically highlights distilleries that demonstrate exceptional quality, that have sustainable practices, and are profoundly connected to their terroir.” He said the certification creates a gold standard for single-source whiskeys and even “a new way to talk about a premiumized American whiskey.”“So you'll see us positioning Star Hill Farm as a leader in this new and really exciting segment,” Layfield said, “but it's just another way of — how do we elevate whiskey for all?” In DeKalb, Illinois, Whiskey Acres Distilling Co. had nine products certified by the EWA to kick things off, and they have more in the pipeline. Distillery CEO and president Jamie Walter said all of the whiskey they produce on their fifth-generation family farm exceeds certification requirements — at least 66 percent of the grain used being sourced from a farm within 75 miles of the distillery, owned or controlled by the distillery, and all production operations performed onsite at the distillery. In his case, everything they’ve ever distilled at Whiskey Acres has been made with corn, wheat, rye, and barley grown onsite. As a result, every whiskey
they’ve ever made would qualify. “That was our line in the sand. If it's in a Whiskey Acres bottle, it's not only been made by us, [but] it's been grown by us,” Walter said. “We actually have over a dozen products and more to come that eventually will be certified, but they're either sold out or they haven't reached the marketplace yet because they're still only two or three years old and still aging.” “It isn't just about grain being produced locally. It's about grain that's being produced by the distillery themselves, or at the very least on land that the distillery controls,” he added. “Our industry, frankly, for far too long has had a lot of smoke and mirrors and you've had a lot of brands that have been built on stories and imaging that isn't necessarily true, and I think consumers in some cases have felt a little duped by that. We think having transparency, a hundred percent transparency and authenticity to the consumers, that they'll reward us for that.” Black Fox Farm and Distillery in Saskatoon, Saskatchewan, is a founding member of the alliance and has their triticale single-grain whiskey certified. They opted to put that whiskey in the certification pipeline first as their flagship and as a nod to part of what makes Black Fox unique, according to co-founder Barb Stefanyshyn-Cote. “The majority of our spirits are actually triticale-based, and so we felt that it was very fitting to use it as our very first whiskey to be certified,” she said. “We would like to certify more. We've done the work, now it's just a matter of putting the certification on it, so why wouldn't we?” Most of Black Fox’s production will qualify for certification, she said, barring one season when they had a crop failure and had to
“The EWA specifically highlights distilleries that demonstrate exceptional quality, that have sustainable practices, and are profoundly connected to their terroir.” Blake Layfield
Master distiller, Maker’s Mark
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