Hotaling's New American Single Malt: Its Final Whiskey Distilled At Potrero Hill

Since its inception, the San Francisco-based Hotaling & Co. Distillery has hung its hat on rye whiskey. Hotaling was founded in 1993 as Anchor Distilling, a small offshoot of the venerable Anchor Brewing Company. Back then, Anchor was owned by craft beer legend Fritz Maytag, who purchased the brewery when it was on the brink of failure in 1965 and spent the ensuing decades whipping it back into shape. By the early ’90s, Maytag was planning an expansion into spirits, intending to distill a product inspired by the whiskeys of the 18th century. After doing some research, he was drawn to rye whiskey—a style that had been wildly popular before Prohibition, but was on the verge of extinction.

To make that dream a reality, Maytag set up pot stills in the Anchor Brewing warehouse and left things in the hands of Bruce Joseph—one of Anchor’s most experienced brewers—who would go on to serve as master distiller for over three decades before retiring in February this year. Bruce and Maytag landed on a 100% malted rye mashbill, and started filling barrels in 1994. The whiskey was first bottled and released in 1996 under the Old Potrero label, named after the Potrero Hill neighborhood of San Francisco where Anchor was located. It was touted as the first pot-distilled 100% rye malt whiskey released since Prohibition.

Anchor Distilling underwent several changes over the ensuing years. In 2010, Maytag sold the company to a private investor group led by former Skyy Spirits executives Tony Foglio and Keith Greggor. It later also gained Hirsch Selected Whiskeys, a brand with a distinguished pedigree that by then was a sourced label. In 2017, Anchor’s beer division was acquired by Japanese brewer Sapporo, with the distillery remaining independent.

Soon after, the distillery rebranded as Hotaling & Co.—named after A. P. Hotaling, a historic wine and spirits wholesaler from the area whose warehouse famously survived the San Francisco Earthquake of 1906. In 2020, Hotaling moved out of Potrero Hill and relocated about 15 minutes away to Pier 50 near the San Francisco waterfront. Today Hotaling’s portfolio also boasts an impressive stable of imported whiskies, including scotch brands Daftmill, Arran, Balblair, Old Pulteney, and Lagg; Japanese brand Nikka; and Irish labels Dingle, The Irishman, and Writers’ Tears. But despite all these new developments, Hotaling has focused exclusively on rye whiskey. Now that notion has changed, with Hotaling debuting its first American single malt (ASM) whiskey: Hirsch The Departure.

Same Style, Different Grain

The Departure Batch AHH1024 is distilled entirely from Marris Otter— a hybrid barley variety dating back to the mid-1960s, which saw widespread use in brewing circles as an ingredient in English-style ales—and fermented using the distillery’s signature beer yeast strain. The whiskey carries an age statement of 6 years and 9 months, having been matured in a mix of three different types of virgin American oak sourced from Independent Stave Company, including No.-3 char, No.-4 char, and toasted uncharred. It was proofed to 49% ABV before bottling. The inaugural release accounts for 1,350 bottles, available in CA, IL, TX, LA, and CO retailers with a suggested price of $75.

As head distiller and blender Kevin Aslan recalls, the concept for The Departure came about almost by accident. It started in 2015 when the distilling team—including Aslan, Joseph, and former lead distiller Kendra Scott—needed to break in a new wash still that had just been installed. Instead of using the typical Old Potrero rye malt mash, they opted to condition the still using a simple two-row malted barley mash brewed by Anchor Brewery. The test runs were a success, and the new pot still worked just fine, but the team came away fairly impressed with how the single malt distillate tasted—noting that it was quite sweet, and didn’t have any obvious defects.

Tasting that unaged distillate inspired the team to make a single malt whiskey, though it took them some time to start distilling it. Early on, Joseph made the decision to swap the malt type from two-row to Maris Otter, which he was already familiar with during his time as a brewer. “Bruce especially was from a brewing background—he had been a brewer at Anchor since 1980,” Aslan told Whisky Advocate. “So we always had that slight edge of knowing about different kinds of malts. And [Marris Otter] just has a beautiful flavor, so we went with it.”

From there, the team took some time to refine the new make as much as possible. They started by trying to pinpoint the best Marris Otter they could find—sourcing malts from several different malting houses, and eventually selecting an undisclosed UK source that became their sole supplier. Next, they dialed in the production process: experimenting with different fermentations, mashing styles, cut points, and entry proofs. They ended up homing in on sweeter notes, which the team figured would be rounded off during maturation.

“It had a nice sweetness that we knew would balance out with the barrel aging,” said Aslan. “If you have a really sweet new make spirit, it’s not always going to translate to sweetness in the final product. But just knowing how the spirit would interact with the wood was a really good sign.” Aslan elaborates that, while the flavors were different from what you’d typically find in Old Potrero rye distillate, there were some “house style” similarities—namely richness and a thick, heavy mouthfeel—which he credits to slow distillation in small pot stills. “It just had everything we were looking for.”

The first real production runs started in late 2016 and early 2017, totaling around 50 barrels. When it came to tackling maturation, the distillery stuck to what it knew best. The team picked barrel types that had previously worked well for Old Potrero products. Specifically, they leaned heavily on No.-3 and No.-4 char barrels—personal favorites for both Aslan and Joseph—while sprinkling in some new uncharred toasted barrels, similar to the ones that had been used for Old Potrero 6 year old Toasted Barrel. Aslan notes that the team considered bottling the whiskey at 4.5 years old, but after noticing toffee notes emerging in some barrels, they decided to hold it for a little more time. At 6 years and 9 months old, they deemed that the first batch was ready.

Final Distillations at Potrero Hill

The Departure holds the curious designation of being one of the last spirits distilled at Hotaling’s original distillery on Potrero Hill. And according to Aslan, “it’s a bit of a miracle that this product exists.” The Departure single malt’s first production runs coincided with Sapporo’s Anchor acquisition in 2017. As part of the deal, Sapporo graciously allowed Hotaling to continue distilling inside the brewery, giving it three years to pack up and move out. The team planned everything in advance, but COVID lockdowns from March-November in 2020 abruptly barred the Hotaling team from the distillery, giving them just a month to get everything ready ahead of a December 31st move-out date. The team scrambled to execute their plan, which included finishing up the yet-unmade batches that were scheduled for that year.

“Bruce and I were at the distillery, basically mashing in with the leftover barley—we had some rye left over too,” recalls Aslan. “Believe it or not, we had the time to finish distilling what we had left over, and we even had some new barrels that were at the facility to fill.” Those last few barrels turned 5 years old this year, and Kevin notes that they’re currently earmarked for a future The Departure release in another 2 years or so.

The Departure is currently slated to be an annual release, with one batch releasing per year. In terms of other expressions, Kevin confirmed that he’s held a few of the older stocks back for extended aging, with the goal of eventually bottling and releasing a 9 year old. He’s also experimenting with aging single malt in used barrels, similar to what Hotaling does for its Old Potrero Bottled in Bond expression.