Smooth Ambler Spirits | Vodka | Gin | White Whiskey

Scofflaw Cocktail

JohnLittle — Fri, 10 May 2013 02:24:31 +0000

A refreshing, vintage cocktail that takes it’s name from it’s Prohibition-era roots:

1 .5 oz. Old Scout Rye
1 oz. dry vermouth
3/4 oz. fresh lemon juice
3/4 oz. grenadine
Ice cubes

Tools: mixing glass, strainer
Glass: cocktail
Garnish: lemon twist

Combine all ingredients with ice and shake. Strain into a chilled glass and garnish.

Grilled Peaches with Bourbon Glaze

JohnLittle — Fri, 10 May 2013 02:11:46 +0000

In honor of warming weather and our move into Georgia, we offer this easy summertime dessert, adapted from Paula Dean.

Ingredients:

1/4 cup Old Scout Bourbon
2 sticks butter, softened
2 cups light brown sugar, packed firmly
2 lemons, juiced
1/2 cup water
1 to 2 peaches per person (you can always make more glaze)

Directions:

Put the bourbon into a saucepan over medium-high heat and bring it to a boil. Boil for 1 minute to burn off the alcohol. Add the butter, brown sugar, lemon juice, and water. Bring to a boil whisking until all the sugar is dissolved. Simmer for 5 minutes. Let cool to thicken. Toss fruit with the glaze to coat or brush glaze over fruit with a pastry brush. Place fruit on the grill and turn once when light grill marks appear. Serve with ice cream and drizzle the remaining glaze over the fruit.

Success for Smooth Ambler at the San Francisco World Spirits Competition: Four Entries, Four Medals

JohnLittle — Sat, 04 May 2013 00:59:11 +0000

For Immediate Release:

MAXWELLTON, W.V. (May 1, 2013) Smooth Ambler Spirits, West Virginia’s premier craft distillery, took home four medals from the San Francisco World Spirits Competition, one for each of its entries. The medals were awarded as follows: Greenbrier Gin earned bronze, Barrel Aged Gin and Old Scout Bourbon each took Silver, and Old Scout Rye was awarded a gold.

The 13th Annual San Francisco World Spirits Competition took place in March and had a record number of entries. Distillers and importers submitted 1407 spirits from 63 countries into 85 different classifications. The 34 judges comprise some of the “finest palates” from around the world. As the first international spirits competition in the United States, participation is considered a rite of passage for top quality spirits and a great leading indicator for future market successes.

“This is the second time we’ve entered the San Francisco Spirits Competition, one of the most significant competitions in the country, and it is awesome to have our hard work recognized, for all of our entries, and to be ranked among the greatest spirits producers in the world,” said owner and head distiller, John Little.

About Smooth Ambler Spirits

Smooth Ambler Spirits proudly hails from West Virginia and uses age-old “Appalachian know-how” to inform their entire production from grain to glass. The love of the craft is apparent in every spirit produced and the results are darn delicious.

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Smooth Ambler Spirits Now in Georgia

JohnLittle — Thu, 02 May 2013 01:51:29 +0000

This month, our complete lineup became available in the Georgia. Quality Wine and Spirits is our Atlanta-based distributor. Check out our “Where to Buy” page for specifics and if you’re down that way, let them know about us at your favorite watering hole.

2012: A Great Year for Smooth Ambler

JohnLittle — Mon, 11 Feb 2013 18:24:52 +0000

Friends,

We are thrilled to say that 2012 was our best year yet! We’re still a young company working hard to spread the word about what we’re doing here in West Virginia and we are forever grateful to all of you who are helping us along. Here are a few of the highlights which have us remembering last year fondly and looking forward to things to come:

We proudly introduced three brand new products in 2012: Barrel Aged Gin, Old Scout Rye, and Very Old Scout. The response was astounding, especially when we sold out of Very Old Scout in two weeks! Many thanks to our awesome fans, distributors, and shop owners for that milestone.

Throughout the year, Smooth Ambler was honored to with some awesome accolades. First, at the American Distilling Institute’s conference, Old Scout won a Gold Medal for Whiskey, Best of Category: Artisan Merchant Bottled Whiskey (yes, that’s all one category), and Best of Class for Artisan Merchant Bottler. Wine Enthusiast also gave Old Scout 95 points. Then, Greenbrier Gin went on to earn 94 points from Wine Enthusiast and a coveted place on their “Top 50 for 2012”. In December we learned that Greenbrier Gin had also become a finalist at the Good Food Awards for being a food product that is both delicious and responsibly produced.

We traveled coast to coast pouring hooch, meeting folks, and collecting stories. It reminded us how much we love this country and our fans. Distribution expanded to Massachusetts, Rhode Island, Illinois, California, Arizona, Washington, New Jersey, and Wisconsin. On top of that, we were able to navigate Virginia’s alcohol control laws to get Old Scout on the shelves – a big step since VA is our neighbor and we have so much great support there.

In 2013 we’ll continue our push into new states and even overseas as we will start exporting to the United Kingdom! This is really exciting for us since one of our goals when we started Smooth Ambler was to be able to sell internationally. On this side of the pond, new territories will include North Carolina (already happening as of this writing), South Carolina, and Georgia. Be sure to keep up with us on Facebook as well as checking our “Where to Buy” page to get the latest information.

Finally, we can’t wait to release Old Scout 10-Year Straight Bourbon Whiskey which is shaping up to be something special. We expect our fans will welcome this newest family member with open arms and we look forward to taking her on tour.

Again, our sincerest thanks for an awesome 2012. With your continued support and feedback, we hope the rest of the world will get to enjoy the premium spirits produced with “Appalachian know-how”.

Cheers!

The Smooth Ambler Team

How to Order Smooth Ambler Products from Your State Run Liquor Store

JohnLittle — Sun, 10 Feb 2013 03:05:34 +0000

There are about a dozen states that maintain a monopoly on the sale of alcohol products, which means you have to buy your liquor at the state run stores. This generally works out fine, but sometimes it may be difficult to find Smooth Ambler products stocked on the shelves of your local ‘ABC’ or ‘Package store’. To help you in your quest for superior, hand-crafted spirits, we’ve put together this quick guide with all the secret codes you need to special order Smooth Ambler products. Ok, they’re not really secret codes, but if you’ve got ‘em, it’s much more likely you’ll get what you’re looking for.

An added benefit with placing special orders is that when stores see product moving, they’re more likely to put it on the shelves. That’s good for us and more convenient for you!

If you live in Virginia, North Carolina, or Pennsylvania, pull this post up on your phone, or download a printable copy, so you’re ready next time you want to stock up on Smooth Ambler. *Note* The products listed below are the ones that are available in your state.

Virginia Special Order Codes
Yearling Bourbon Whiskey – 952772
Greenbrier Gin – 952530
Old Scout Straight Bourbon Whiskey – 27590 (now a listed “stock” item)
Old Scout Rye – 952932
Barrel Aged Gin – 952933
Whitewater Vodka – 38009

North Carolina Special Order Codes
Whitewater Vodka– 44220
Greenbrier Gin – 41394
Old Scout Straight Bourbon Whiskey – 25242

Pennsylvania Special Order Codes
Old Scout Straight Bourbon Whiskey – 30757
Whitewater Vodka – 30748
Greenbrier Gin – 518812

Click here to download a printable that contains the codes listed above.

Distillery Tour

JohnLittle — Mon, 28 Jan 2013 21:59:09 +0000

Distillery Tour

Check out our tour video and learn about our distillery here at Smooth Ambler Spirits. We are an American distillery that produces the finest small batch, hand-crafted Gin, Vodka, White Whiskey, and Bourbon Whiskey. It’s a hands-on, grain-to-glass distilling, cutting and filtering process that creates a truly remarkable drink best enjoyed one slow sip at a time.

Barrel Aged Gin

JohnLittle — Mon, 28 Jan 2013 20:19:53 +0000

Barrel Aged Gin

Using our award winning Smooth Ambler Greenbrier Gin as the base distillate, we age half of this product in new bourbon barrels and the other half in used Old Scout bourbon barrels for 3 months. This aging adds unique flavors of burnt caramel and burnt sugar with a bit of lemon meringue notes. It sips like a gin and finishes like a whiskey. It can be used anywhere a standard London Dry gin would be used, but it’s best in cocktails.

Old Scout Rye

JohnLittle — Mon, 28 Jan 2013 20:18:17 +0000

Old Scout Rye

Old Scout Straight Rye Whiskey is a part of our Old Scout line of whiskey that we “merchant bottle”. It’s a 7 year old whiskey using a mashbill of 95% rye and 5% malted barley. You’ll like the sweet and smooth character while it still retains the spicy and bold notes for which all good ryes are known. Black tea, honey, baking spices and a bit of mint make this a powerful whiskey that’s enjoyed neat or stands up well in a cocktail.

Why Rye

JohnLittle — Fri, 11 Jan 2013 20:34:49 +0000

Taylor Galyean, my brother in law and one of our Brand Evangelists , recently served this cocktail at a party in NOLA. It sure sounds like a hell of a winter cocktail.

The cocktail is:

1 1/2 oz of Smooth Ambler Rye

1 oz of Spiced Cranberry Simple Syrup

Splash of Soda

Garnish with Cooked Cranberries and Wedge of Lime

To make the Cranberry Simple Syrup…

Heat equal parts of sugar and water until sugar is dissolved and clear

Add cranberries and spice sachet

Bring to boil and simmer for three minutes

Remove spice sachet and discard

Remove cranberries and reserve for garnish

The quantity of cranberries should be the same as the sugar or water (if one cup sugar and one cup water for the simple syrup then one cup of cranberries is to be used)

The spice sachet is to be 1 cinnamon stick, 1 star anise, and 2 green cardamon pods (per cup of water used). Lightly crush the cardamon pods and put all the spices in cheese cloth tied into a sachet so that it can be easily removed from the simple syrup.