St. George Baller Single Malt Whiskey
Crafted by St. George Spirits — America's original craft distillery, founded in 1982 and now housed in a converted airplane hangar on the former Alameda Naval Air Station — Baller is Master Distiller Lance Winters' homage to the Japanese approach to malt whiskey, built specifically for the highball (hence the name). It starts with a mash bill of 100% malted barley, predominantly two-row pale malt with a portion lightly roasted, distilled in eau-de-vie style pot stills. The spirit matures a minimum of three years in a combination of used bourbon barrels and French oak wine casks, then passes through a maple charcoal filtration process before finishing in casks that previously held St. George's own house-made umeshu — a Japanese plum liqueur crafted from California-grown fruit. The result is a genuinely singular whiskey: honeyed malt and delicate wood smoke on the nose, joined by a distinctive plum sweetness, vanilla, and a touch of tart apple cider vinegar. On the palate, sweet creosote-like smoke meets bright citrus and grilled peach, with savory, almost umami undertones running throughout, before finishing on stewed plum, drying oak, and lingering smoke. Bottled at 94 proof (47% ABV).
ABOUT THE NAME & INSPIRATION
"Baller" refers to the highball — the diluted, ice-forward serve that defines much of Japanese whiskey culture, requiring bold, bright flavors to carry through the dilution. The umeshu cask finish is a direct nod to a technique Suntory once used on the now-discontinued Hibiki 12 Year, aging whiskey in barrels that had previously held Japanese plum liqueur — a practice St. George revived and made entirely its own with house-made umeshu.
STYLE: AMERICAN SINGLE MALT WHISKEY, JAPANESE-INSPIRED
AGE: MINIMUM 3 YEARS
MASH BILL: 100% MALTED BARLEY (PREDOMINANTLY TWO-ROW PALE, PARTIALLY ROASTED)
CASK: EX-BOURBON AND FRENCH OAK WINE CASKS, FINISHED IN HOUSE-MADE UMESHU CASKS
SPECIAL NOTES: AMERICAN-MADE, JAPANESE-INSPIRED; DESIGNED SPECIFICALLY FOR HIGHBALL SERVICE
