Review: Bevridge American Single Malt Tasting Kit
Review: Bevridge American Single Malt Tasting Kit
“One part community, one part content, one part tasting” — here comes another whiskey kit, albeit this one is not being sold as a subscription. Bevridge is a collaboration with Whisky Live, and at present it offers a single kit, a $249 collection of ten 50ml samples of American single malt whiskies. The big sell is that you get more than the whiskies — which aren’t worth anywhere close to $249 — but also access to “a community of like-minded spirits aficionados, distillers, and industry veterans through its specialty kits, digital video series, and weekly panel discussions, and the company’s flagship in-person events, Whisky Live USA & Canada.”
On sale now, the inaugural kit, American Single Malts by Whisky Live … features samples from the most respected single malt producers in the U.S. including Westland, Balcones, Virginia Distillery, Boulder Spirits, Santa Fe Spirits, and Westward, distilleries that have been carefully selected to showcase this style of whiskey. As the American Single Malt designation is likely to become an officially recognized spirits category in the US this winter, now is the time to learn about and taste the rarest offerings from these producers.
Each kit, sold in partnership with ReserveBar, includes 10 masterfully curated 50ml bottles and an informational brochure where whiskey fans can learn about the featured products. All recipients will also have access to a live guided digital tasting, led by Bevridge Co-Founder and owner of @SingleMaltDaily, Nate Ganapathi, the distillers who craft the spirits, and other industry leaders. Future kits will explore whisk(e)y subcategories from all over the world, as well as other spirits such as gin, tequila, and cognac.
“We wanted to create a new way to bring people together to discover ultra-premium spirits,” said Liz Brusca, President and Co-Founder of Bevridge. “Our exclusive tasting kits are just the beginning. We hope to foster a community of like-minded spirits lovers and provide them access to the world’s best spirits and the people making them, too. Through digital activations, weekly panel sessions, and – what we’re most proud of – the return of Whisky Live to the USA & Canada, we hope to offer an imbibing experience unlike any other.”
Bevridge will launch an online weekly panel discussion featuring the industry’s biggest names tackling a variety of subjects from “Tasting Skills” to “Whisky Investing” to “Spirits Terroir.” Every Wednesday at 5:45pm PST/8:45pm EST beginning on November 17th, join the conversation by creating a profile on Bevridge.co to receive incredible access to spirits makers and experts. The first discussion, with World Whiskies, will be hosted by Bevridge co-founder Nate Ganapathi with special guest panelists Lew Bryson, Senior Drinks Writer for the Daily Beast and author of Whiskey Master Class, and Camper English, spirits writer and educator who has been named one of the 100 most influential figures in the global bar industry for the last three years.
Well shit, they got Lew and Camper, so this must be good.
Anyhoo, I didn’t attend any of the panel discussions — which don’t have anything to do with this whiskey kit, by the way — but I did crack open a kit and taste the whiskeys inside. The packaging is quite beautiful and the bottles are all numbered so you can taste them blind if you’d like. (Their identities are included in a color fold-out sheet that’s included in the box if you don’t care about guessing — which I ended up doing just for kicks. It might be more fun for most buyers if the category was more familiar.)
Ultimately, these were largely whiskies that Drinkhacker has collectively reviewed, so I figured only a few surprises were in store for me personally. I’m not going to publish the full list of spirits in the kit here in case of spoilers — you can find it on Bevridge’s website if you want to see — and was only mildly surprised to see myself quickly gravitate to two of the 10 whiskeys, Virginia Distillery Co.’s near-perfect Courage & Conviction (standard bottling) and Westward’s hearty Stout Cask expression. A more surprising honorable mention goes to Boulder‘s subtle and engaging Peated Single Malt whiskey, which I hadn’t seen before. There’s certainly plenty more to experiment with in the kit if you’re unfamiliar with the American single malt universe as it stands today, including a few semi-rarities, and I was pleased to see a quite broad selection of malts on the whole — though note that only six different distilleries are represented.
Again, $249 is asking an awful lot for what you’re getting here. That’s $25 a shot — and shipping isn’t included. Get this down to the $150 level and it’s a more interesting proposition that would work outside of a luxe Christmas or birthday gift.
A- / $249 / bevridge.co
Bevridge American Single Malt Tasting Kit
$249
