Smooth Ambler is a fantastic, state-of-the-art Craft Distillery in Greenbrier County, West Virginia. It was established in 2009 by TAG Galyean and John Little and produces a number of spirits, including whiskeys, from grain to glass. Fancy a Distillery Tour? Just select ‘Read More’ below and see the video at the bottom!
Located in the unincorporated community of Maxwelton, the distillery is run by a small team, which includes Sales Director John Foster and Vice-President John Little, who's also the Head Distiller. Production is labour intensive but only requires a small number of people with the skill of the distiller being all important at every stage.
When it comes to bottling, friends, family and members of the local community are invited in to lend a hand with each bottle being hand signed by whoever it is that bottles it – this could be a director, an uncle or the lady from the store down the road! It’s all hands on deck around here!
The distillery is currently maturing hundreds of barrels of whiskey in their new rickhouse, including two different bourbons and a wheat whiskey with around 8 new barrels being laid down every week. We can expect the first releases of whiskey distilled at Smooth Ambler to appear around about 2015/16, if it’s decided they’ve sufficiently matured.
In the meantime, Smooth Ambler also produce top-quality vodka and gin, as well as curating their own range of whiskeys distilled elsewhere. This range is bottled under their Old Scout label, as they’ve ‘scouted’ out these bourbons and ryes that meet the exacting standards the chaps at Smooth Ambler set themselves. These are whiskeys with a character admired by John and the gang, bottled straight and often at higher than average abvs (in a nutshell: they’re awesome).
Situated in the Appalachian hills, with fresh mountain air and natural spring water, Smooth Ambler has access to fantastic natural resources. Their corn is grown on a single farm based within half an hour of the distillery, whilst the Greenbrier Valley provides the perfect climactic conditions for maturing bourbon with ideal temperature differences between seasons.
See the video below for a tour of the distillery!