Q: Sourcing Whiskey?
“Is it common for distilleries that are just starting up to source whiskey from other distilleries?”
A: The short answer is: yes, sourcing is very common. Actually more common in the US than we realize.
We can all agree that making good whiskey takes time. Not only to age the whiskey, but to do R&D as well. There are a couple of ways to make a profit when first starting a whiskey distillery instead of waiting years for the whiskey to be ready to sell. Sourcing whiskey is one method. Making gin, vodka and/or moonshine is another method. Which method is used depends on the distillery and money is a big factor swaying decisions like these. Sourcing whiskey, especially aged whiskey that’s ready-to-bottle, is an added expense (think ~$1-2K per barrel) on top of the raw ingredients, equipment, licenses and all other start up expenses. Whereas producing gin, moonshine and/or vodka is arguably more work, but not as expensive because it can be made at the same time as the whiskey, using the same ingredients. Of course, these white spirits have to be tasty enough to sell to consumers, otherwise that’s a waste of product.
Sourcing is also widely practiced by established distilleries after the start-up phase. A lot of whiskey drinkers in the US don’t realize that. Some distilleries source whiskey and blend it with their in-house product (High West is very transparent about this). Others bottle the sourced whiskey under their own brand. These companies are called Non-Distiller Producers (NDP), however if we were in the UK, we’d call them Independent Bottlers. NDPs are not always transparent, which is why you might be shocked to hear that whiskeys like Bulleit are sourced entirely from another distillery. (Note: I’m picking on Bulleit only because they’re one of the most popular whiskey brands in the country.)
Sourcing and blending is not a bad thing, but it has a stigma in the US. Maybe the lack of transparency makes it feel shady, so we assume it must be shady. And I agree, I wish the NDPs were upfront, but sometimes the distilleries that they source from don’t want their information disclosed. I’m not sure why this is, but I think it’s time we break from that tradition.
I might be overly optimistic, but I have a feeling that the tides are changing in the whiskey industry towards full transparency as we see the rise of craft distilleries and NDPs being more open about what exactly goes into their bottles of whiskey.
Other Q&A Posts
“What are the different distillation cuts?” When distilling any spirit, there are parts of the distillate that you want to keep and others that you want to toss out. The distillation cuts are commonly referred to as the heads, hearts and tails and they condense off the still in that order. The hearts cut is what the distiller keeps, ages and bottles. Read about the composition of each distillation cut and more here!