A whole lot of people think bourbon can only legally be made in Kentucky. That's not true. But the oft-repeated myth shows how indelible the relationship between Kentucky and whiskey is, a relationship that dates back to Alexander Hamilton and a despised whiskey tax that drove distillers from the mid-Atlantic region to the friendlier Southern state.



The absolute best whiskey in America still comes out of Kentucky, whether you believe it is Pappy Van Winkle, George T. Stagg, or perhaps a more offbeat selection. Likewise, Jack Daniels is, if not the best, the most famous whiskey in America, and the best-selling too. Jack has stamped Kentucky's neighbor to the south, Tennessee, as another state uniquely linked with the good stuff.

What about whiskeys from other states? Are any worth a damn?

But what about whiskeys from other states? Are any worth a damn? There are now around 2,000 distilleries in America, at least one in each state. As this "craft" micro-distilling boom is only about a decade old, many of today's companies have not yet had the time (or resources) to create a good whiskey. Furthermore, some craft distilleries don't produce their own whiskey. Instead, they use the same "sourced" juice, usually courtesy of a giant factory called Midwest Grain Products (MGP) in Indiana, and simply slap their own label on the bottle. We won't count those whiskeys for our purposes.

So can any of these smaller outfits that actually distill their own product one day help their state wrest the long-held whiskey crown from Kentucky and Tennessee? The search for the next great American whiskey begins in 2019 with the best distilleries in the 47 states, plus D.C., that aren't Kentucky, Tennessee, or Indiana.

Note: Most of these bottles are in the $40–to–$60 range.

The Best of the Best

These distilleries are the ones likely to cause Kentucky's "Bourbon Trail" to veer out-of-state. Most were founded in the 2000s, and many focus on more atypical whiskeys, like hopped, fruited, or finished. They all make undeniably delicious bourbons, ryes, and even single malts. The following 10 are ranked by quality.

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1. Washington

Westland

City: Seattle

Founded: 2010

Distribution: national

For the longest time, Westland was the independently owned "little guy" making the absolute best whiskey in America. Unlike most U.S.-based micro-distilleries that focus on bourbon, it set its sights on single malts. And, they were all quite good—mature, refined, yeasty, and flavorful—whether it was Westland Peated or Garryana, produced using barrels made from a unique local oak tree. In 2016, Westland was acquired by French drinks giant Rémy Cointreau, so it is no longer the independently owned underdog. It is still the best non-Kentucky/Tennessee/Indiana whiskey in America.

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2. Texas

Balcones

City: Waco

Founded: 2008

Distribution: Texas, Illinois, California, and the tri-state area

Balcones was perhaps the first distillery to be the toast of the micro-whiskey world, back when the legendary Chip Tate helmed the Waco enterprise. Tate left under a cloud of investor squabbling in 2014, and Balcones lost some luster in the press, but it is still producing world-class stuff. Well, of course it is—its unique whiskeys like True Blue, distilled from blue heirloom corn, and Brimstone, smoked from sun-baked scrub oak, are based on Tate’s recipes. And Balcones continues to innovate and produce world-class stuff on its own accord. (Tate now runs his own joint down the highway, which surely makes you wonder whether it will become Texas’s best whiskey distillery one day.)

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3. Wyoming

Wyoming Whiskey

City: Kirby

Founded: 2009

Distribution: national

You might not be too optimistic the first time you encounter Wyoming Whiskey, what with its bland name and simple packaging. The first batches of wheat whiskey from this joint weren't too swell either. But once it had enough juice to produce a five-year-old product, the distillery started killing it. Nowadays, it makes barrel-strength and high-rye products, and 2017’s Double Cask (finished in Pedro Ximenez sherry barrels) was its best whiskey yet. In September of last year, the company formed a “strategic partnership” with Edrington, the spirits giant best known for its scotch portfolio.

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4. California

Charbay

City: St. Helena

Founded: 1983

Distribution: regional

One of the most advanced micro-distilleries in the game is this Napa Valley outfit started by a European expat who wanted to make grape brandy. Today, Charbay produces wine, tequila, vodka, rum, walnut liqueur, and some of the more interesting whiskeys in the world. Thirteenth-generation master distiller Marko Karakasevic is a mad man (and a truly fun dude to drink with), and he should probably be credited with inventing hoppy whiskey; he first distilled an IPA in 1999. By now he has refined his technique, and products like the hoppy Whiskey R5 and Whiskey S (distilled from Bear Republic Brewing's Big Bear Stout) aren't just unique, they are delicious.

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5. Utah

High West

City: Park City

Founded: 2006

Distribution: national

High West's products up to this point have mostly been sourced from Indiana. But it does have a distilling component helmed by wiz kid Brendan Coyle, who has a masters of distilling from a Scottish university. While High West is quite adept at taking sourced juice and making intriguing blends like Bourye, Yippee Ki-Yay (finished in vermouth and Syrah barrels), and A Midwinter Night's Dram (finished in port barrels), it 100-percent distills its Valley Tan Whiskey, which is named after the alcoholic "refresher" Mormons used to drink. In 2016, High West was named Distiller of the Year by Whisky Advocate—and also was acquired by Corona's Constellation Brands.

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City: Lovingston

Founded: 2011

Distribution: regional

This is an ambitious distillery that came prepped with a clever plan to keep the lights on. Instead of starting with a vodka or gin like most new distilleries, since opening to the public in 2015, Virginia Distillery has sourced single malt scotch from the Scottish Highlands and brought it over to America to blend with its own locally distilled single malt. If that’s not enough to make products like Virginia-Highland Malt Whisky its “own,” the distillery often goes one additional step by aging this blended juice in a variety of intriguing barrels. These run the gamut from the industry-expected (sherry and port) to the off-beat (local beer, cider, and chardonnay) to the truly inventive (a cold brew coffee-soaked cask). It expects to release its first purely Virginia-distilled single malt, called Courage & Conviction, in 2020.

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City: Bristol

Founded: 2011

Distribution: 14 states

If you thought we wouldn't honor anything standard, you were wrong. Courtesy of Mountain Laurel Spirits is a series of classic straight rye whiskeys that are flat-out tasty—no bells and whistles needed. Products like Dad's Hat Pennsylvania Rye Whiskey might be returning the Keystone State to its roots as a preeminent maker of whiskey. Though, truth be told, the best product from Dad's Hat is a 94-proof rye finished in vermouth barrels.

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City: Denver

Founded: 1999

Distribution: 24 states

Colorado is one of the foremost states when it comes to craft whiskey, and Stranahan's, its most famous distillery, is indeed terrific. But the Leopold brothers, former brewers from Michigan, are making better, more intriguing spirits. The nearly 20-year-old company has a "pre-prohibition"-style whiskey and a Maryland-style rye, but its series of fruit whiskeys is the most interesting. Particularly good are the Rocky Mountain Peach and Rocky Mountain Blackberry, both lower-proof products that use macerated and blended local fruits to sweeten and add complexity.

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9. West Virginia

Smooth Ambler

City: Maxwelton

Founded: 2009

Distribution: 30 states

Smooth Ambler recently gained much acclaim from whiskey geeks for its Old Scout single barrel selections. Unfortunately, all of those single barrels come courtesy of MGP in Indiana. In 2017, however, the company released Wheated Bourbon, a so-called “Appalachian whiskey” completely distilled in West Virginia, which was highly sought-after amongst the cognoscenti. Smooth Ambler was acquired by French company Pernod Ricard in 2016.

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10. Vermont

WhistlePig

City: Shoreham

Founded: 2008

Distribution: national

Keeping pace with High West and Smooth Ambler, this farm distillery has long sourced some of the best rye whiskey in America. Founder Raj Bhakta and former Makers Mark master distiller, the late Dave Pickerell, had the genius to snap up barrels of Canadian rye back when no one wanted them. Its products like Boss Hog and Old World may be pricey, but they're some of the better, older rye bottlings around. Just recently, WhistlePig started releasing its own farm-to-bottle distillate called Farmstock, a “triple-terroir” rye produced using Vermont water, rye grains, and barrels made from local oak.

The Best of the Rest

These distilleries are still in their nascent stages. Some are young but showing promise. Some are a little older but still coming into their own. And some aren't even that good; they are just the only whiskey makers in that particular state. All, however, distill their own products. The following 38 are unranked and listed alphabetically.

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Alabama

John Emerald

City: Opelika

Founded: 2014

Distribution: regional

The state's first whiskey distillery to open in 100 years—goody two-shoes Alabama started prohibition five years early, in 1915—has one product, John's Alabama Single Malt, smoked with peach and pecan wood.

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Alaska

Alaska Distillery



City: Wasilla

Founded: 2005

Distribution: national

The country's northernmost whiskey maker—located in Sarah Palin's hometown—makes Alaska Outlaw Whiskey, as well as a smoked salmon vodka.

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Arizona

Whiskey Del Bac

City: Tucson

Founded: 2011

Distribution: regional

If any little guys are going to surpass the big boys at their own game, they will have to create something completely different. Something like Whiskey Del Bac’s Dorado, made with mesquite-smoked malts. It’s like drinking a bag of Barbecue Lay’s.

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Arkansas

Rock Town

City: Little Rock

Founded: 2010

Distribution: national

Rock Town utilizes 100-percent Arkansas ingredients for products like its Hickory Smoked Whiskey and Single Barrel Bourbon.



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Connecticut

Litchfield

City: Litchfield

Founded: 2014

Distribution: regional

This northwest Connecticut spot's farm-to-bottle Batcher's Bourbon is currently being bottled at eight years of age, quite old for micro-distillery juice.

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Delaware

Dogfish Head

City: Milton

Founded: 2002

Distribution: local

Our nation’s first state is not exactly a whiskey hotbed, which made it easy for this acclaimed brewery to burst onto the scene with Alternate Takes, a recently released experimental whiskey made of applewood smoked barley and finished in rum casks.

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District of Columbia

One Eight

City: Washington, D.C.

Founded: 2015

Distribution: local

Jos. A. Magnus crafted one of the buzziest whiskeys in the business today, but unfortunately, its armagnac-finished Cigar Blend is MGP juice. Thus, One Eight Distilling's Rock Creek Whiskey is literally the only D.C.-distilled whiskey currently on the market.

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City: St. Augustine

Founded: 2014

Distribution: local

This community-owned distillery, located in a historical commercial ice plant, makes a Port Finished Bourbon aged in barrels from nearby San Sebastian Winery.

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Georgia

Thirteenth Colony

City: Americus

Founded: 2009

Distribution: regional

Despite draconian alcohol laws in its state, Thirteenth Colony managed to produce a four-years-aged Southern Bourbon and a Southern Rye finished on French oak spirals.

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Hawaii

Ala Wai

City: Honolulu

Founded: 2017

Distribution: online only

A few years back, Hawaiian moonshine was the closest thing to whiskey in Aloha-land. Luckily, today there’s this extremely small-batch distillery using a variety of atypical yeast strains, then "hyper-aging" for a year to produce Ala Wai Single Malt and Ala Wai Corn whiskey.

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Idaho

Idaho Whiskey

City: Boise

Founded: 2013

Distribution: national

This distillery's flagship product, Idaho Whiskey, is a small-batch bourbon that is a top seller in the state's government-run liquor stores.

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Illinois

FEW Spirits

City: Evanston

Founded: 2011

Distribution: regional

Named to subtly tweak Frances Elizabeth Willard, a local temperance worker of legend, FEW makes an award-winning rye that is spicy and quite good.

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Iowa

Cedar Ridge

City: Swisher

Founded: 2005

Distribution: regional

You can credit an Iowa pseudo-distillery—Templeton—for clueing the world into the seedier side of sourcing after it settled a massive class-action suit for marketing its product as Iowa-made. Cedar Ridge's bluntly named Iowa Bourbon is actually made in Iowa, from Iowa corn.

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Kansas

Union Horse

City: Lenexa

Founded: 2010

Distribution: regional

Union Horses's five-year-old Reserve Straight Bourbon Whiskey was good enough to make Wine Enthusiast's list of Top 100 Spirits of the year.

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Louisiana

Atelier Vie

City: New Orleans

Founded: 2011

Distribution: regional

While most distilleries are focusing on corn, wheat, barley, and rye, Atelier Vie offers Riz, a whiskey made from rice.

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Maine

Maine Craft Distilling

City: Portland

Founded: 2012

Distribution: local

In a city known for world-class beer, this Portland distillery makes a carrot gin and Fifty Stone, a Highland-style peated single malt.



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Maryland

Lyon

City: Saint Michaels

Founded: 2012

Distribution: local

Once the state for the world's best rye, Maryland's current generation of whiskey makers is still in its infancy. This Chesapeake Bay-area distillery made rum upon opening and now has a 100-proof rye and a single malt.

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Massachusetts

Triple Eight

City: Nantucket

Founded: 2000

Distribution: local

Associated with Cisco Brewers, Triple Eight distills a 12-year-old single malt named Notch (a portmanteau meaning "Not Scotch") that has won bushels of awards.

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Michigan

Grand Traverse Distillery

City: Traverse City

Founded: 2007

Distribution: local

Michigan is cherry country, and this distillery does make a Cherry Whiskey, alongside several other intriguing options like a peated Islay Rye.

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Minnesota

Eleven Wells



City: St. Paul

Founded: 2013

Distribution: local

Eleven Wells might disclose the most information of any distillery on planet earth with bottles like Wheat Whiskey, which details 13 different production elements, ranging from the usual (proof, age) to the more obscure (barrel char level, yeast type).

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Mississippi

Cathead

City: Gluckstadt

Founded: 2010

Distribution: local

In a state mostly bereft of whiskey, Cathead makes a white whiskey called Gold Coast that is distilled from Lazy Magnolia beer.

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Missouri

StilL 630

City: St. Louis

Founded: 2012

Distribution: local

This distillery's Double Barrel Rallypoint won "Best in Class: Whiskey" at 2016's American Craft Spirits Association awards.

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Montana

Glacier

City: Coram

Founded: 2009

Distribution: local

If you believe the possibly apocryphal story on its website, this distillery was conceived during a massive snowstorm, as a few friends worried they might run out of whiskey. It makes a series of organic, GMO-free grain whiskeys, like North Fork and Wheatfish, a single-malt.

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Nebraska

Cut Spike

City: La Vista

Founded: 2008

Distribution: national

Cut Spike Single Malt is made using Scottish copper stills—a bit of a rarity in America, but one that works. It won Double Gold at the famed San Francisco Spirits competition.

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Nevada

Verdi Local Distillery

City: Verdi

Founded: 2015

Distribution: local

Verdi makes an award-winning product, Mahogany Whiskey, aged on mountain mahogany, as well as a Fireball-challenging apple cinnamon whiskey.

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New Hampshire

Tamworth

City: Tamworth

Founded: 2015

Distribution: regional

Tamworth makes a rye whiskey blended with fresh Montmorency cherries, but it garnered viral buzz for last year’s Eau De Musc, a bourbon flavored with extract from beavers’ castoreum sacs—the animal’s anal glands (eek).

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City: Asbury Park

Founded: 2017

Distribution: local

The state that gave America its first ever distillery is surprisingly lacking in whiskey production today—though it does have this excellent distillery, right near the boardwalk, that makes a Double Barrel Bourbon, aged in both oak and used gin barrels.

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New Mexico

Santa Fe Spirits

City: Santa Fe

Founded: 2010

Distribution: national

Founded by Englishman Colin Keegan, this distillery's Colkegan Single Malt is a scotch-style, mesquite-smoked whiskey aged in the high desert 7,000 feet above sea level.

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New York

Finger Lakes Distilling

City: Burdett

Founded: 2009

Distribution: local

Set in the midst of wine country, Brian McKenzie’s distillery uses corn, wheat, and rye from local farms to craft gins, brandies, and various liqueurs. His McKenzie Rye and Bourbon have ascended to the state’s best, and he’s not afraid to finish them in unique barrels from the region, like pommeau and riesling.

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North Carolina

Great Wagon Road

City: Charlotte

Founded: 2013

Distribution: local

An Irish native from a family of (illegal) whiskey makers, Ollie Mulligan produces bottles at Great Wagon Road like Rua, which means “red” in Gaelic, for the gorgeous hue of this organic single malt.

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North Dakota

Proof

City: Fargo

Founded: 2013

Distribution: local

The only whiskey distiller in the state makes a cinnamon whiskey called 2DOCKS Fire by Proof.

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City: Chagrin Falls

Founded: 2010

Distribution: local

Tom's Foolery is getting good buzz for its Bonded Bourbon, making it one of the few micro-distillers who can claim such a "bonded" distinction.

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Oklahoma

Scissortail

City: Moore

Founded: 2013

Distribution: local

The only producer of aged bourbon in the Sooner state, Scissortail uses tiny barrels to try to speed up Father Time. The combat veterans who run the distillery made Napalm, a cinnamon whiskey, and offered special #MAGA bottles for Trump's election.

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Oregon

House Spirits

City: Portland

Founded: 2004

Distribution: national

House Spirits makes Irish-inspired Westward Single Malt Whiskey, which is fermented with ale yeast—not surprising in such a beer-friendly area.

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Rhode Island

Sons of Liberty

City: South Kingstown

Founded: 2011

Distribution: regional

This hip South Kingstown bar slash brewpub slash distillery makes whiskey from its own beers, including an intriguing Grapefruit Hop Whiskey.

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South Carolina

High Wire

City: Charleston

Founded: 2013

Distribution: regional

This Southern distillery produces a biscuit whiskey, as well as a Sorghum Whiskey from sorghum grown on a Mennonite farm.

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South Dakota

Dakota Spirits

City: Pierre

Founded: 2006

Distribution: local

South Dakota's only aged whiskey maker has an oat whiskey and a blended product called Bickering Brothers.

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Wisconsin

45th Parallel

City: New Richmond

Founded: 2007

Distribution: regional

One of the oldest distilleries in the state makes a four-year-old Border Straight Bourbon and a New Richmond Rye, using grain from a local farm.

The Michigan and New Jersey entries in this story have been updated.