Root Shoot Whiskey Wins Another International Award at International Whiskey Competition

Root Shoot Spirits’ American Single Malt Whiskey earned a Silver Medal in the 2025 International Whisky Competition’s (IWC) American Single Malt category! Award-winning Root Shoot Whiskey is bottled-in-bond, aged 4 years in American White oak barrels, and made from 100% Colorado-grown grain.

The International Whisky Competition is the World’s most-followed whiskey only competition. It awards just one Gold, one Silver, and one Bronze medal per category. IWC is entirely masked and judged purely on liquid quality, with judges employing rigorous sensory tasting against accepted style guidelines to declare winners.

The award-winning Root Shoot Whiskey tasting experience begins with aromas of cobbler and honey granola. Upon first sip, clean flavors of alpine florals breeze across the palate, and the sip finishes with an alpenglow of rich pastry, faint cocoa dust and long, lingering bright-yet-spicy flavors. 

“Colorado is producing some of the world’s best American Single Malt Whiskies,” says Root Shoot Farmer and Founder Todd Olander. “The winners in the category were stacked with Colorado names. For us, that level of quality starts with the finest raw materials sown, grown, and malted right here at the foot of the Rocky Mountains.”

Colorado’s sunny days, fertile soil and Rocky Mountain snowmelt come together at Root Shoot Malting’s 100 year family farm in Loveland, Colorado, to create ideal conditions for crafting widely-awarded malt like their Genie Pale Malt (gold and Best in Show in 2019, bronze in 2021, silver in 2023 and bronze in 2024 at the Craft Maltsters Guild Malt Cup); and Munich 10 Malt (bronze in 2020, gold in 2023, gold in 2024 and silver in 2025 at the Craft Malsters Guild Malt Cup). Root Shoot’s malt is not only used in their own American Single Malt Whiskey, but available to brewers and distillers nationwide.

Find Root Shoot’s celebrated American Single Malt Whiskey on shelves across the colorful state of Colorado using the Whiskey Finder at rootshootspirits.com. Brewers and distillers can get in touch with Root Shoot Malting by visiting rootshootmalting.com. 

ABOUT ROOT SHOOT 

Root Shoot Malting is a fifth-generation family farm and a first-generation craft malthouse producing responsibly-raised, caringly-crafted, high-quality malts. We believe farmers are stewards of the land and that responsible agriculture can support a better food and beverage industry. Located on the Olander family farm in Loveland, Colo., Root Shoot produces malts made from barley, wheat, rye, and corn and is working to protect farmland through its conservation easement with Colorado Open Lands. Find our craft malts online at rootshootmalting.com.

Root Shoot Spirits brings Root Shoot Malting’s craft malt from grain to glass. Sown, grown, and malted in Colorado, all ingredients for Root Shoot Spirits are sourced from the 5th generation family run Olander Farms and malted by the sustainability-minded craft maltsters at Root Shoot Malting. Root Shoot Whiskey launched August 2023 and is available throughout Colorado. Follow along at rootshootspirits.com.