There are competitions, and then there are the ones where every single judge has to agree. At the American Craft Spirits Association Awards, earning a Double Gold Medal means the entire judging panel gave a spirit their top marks — no exceptions, no split decisions. It's one of the hardest distinctions to land in the American craft spirits world. Wigle Whiskey, a Pittsburgh-based distillery, just did exactly that with their Single Barrel Rye Whiskey.
The win didn't come alone, either. Wigle walked away from the competition with six total medals, adding Silver Medals in five other categories to their haul. For a regional craft producer, that kind of performance across the board says something serious about what's coming out of their operation.
What Makes a Double Gold Different
Most people who follow spirits competitions understand the Gold Medal. It signals a well-made product that performed strongly with the judges. But the Double Gold is something else entirely. Every judge on the panel has to agree that the spirit deserves the top score. One dissenter and it doesn't happen. That unanimous requirement is what separates it from the rest and why it carries as much weight as it does in the industry.
The American Craft Spirits Association runs one of the most respected competitions for independent distillers in the country. When Emily Pennington, the CEO of ACSA, talks about what Double Gold winners represent, she's direct about it. "Small, independently owned distillers are producing some of the most exceptional spirits in the country right now," Pennington said. "Double Gold medal winners represent the very best of American craft spirits, demonstrating excellence in both craftsmanship and character."
That's the company Wigle's Single Barrel Rye is now keeping.
A Rye Built from the Ground Up
Wigle Whiskey operates what's known as a grain-to-glass model, which means they're involved in the process from the very beginning. They source their grains directly from local Pennsylvania farmers, distill each batch by hand, and carry the product through every stage of production themselves. Nothing is outsourced to someone else's distillery.
The Single Barrel Rye that earned the Double Gold is built on regionally sourced grain and aged in individually selected barrels. That last part matters more than it might seem. When a distillery selects barrels individually rather than blending them together into a consistent product, each barrel ends up with its own personality. The spice profile, the depth, the overall character — all of it can vary from one barrel to the next. It's a riskier approach in some ways, but when it works, the results are hard to argue with.
Alex Moser, the Chief Operating Officer at Wigle Whiskey, framed the win in terms of what drives the team day to day. "This award is a testament to the hard work and passion of our distilling team," Moser said. "Our Single Barrel Rye represents the essence of what we strive for every day — exceptional whiskey rooted in local agriculture and time-honored techniques."
He wasn't done there. "To be recognized by ACSA with a Double Gold is an incredible honor," Moser added.
Six Medals, Six Categories
The Double Gold headline is the obvious story coming out of this competition for Wigle, but the depth of their medal performance is worth paying attention to. Silver Medals came in across five additional categories: the Reserve Mezcal and Sherry Finished Rye, Reserve Pennsylvania Straight Rye Whiskey, American Rye Kilted Cask, Rye Old Fashioned, and Limoncello.
That list covers a wide range of what Wigle produces. There's traditional rye whiskey territory, barrel-finished expressions that push into more experimental space, a ready-to-drink cocktail in the Rye Old Fashioned, and a liqueur in the Limoncello. The fact that all of them medaled at a national competition points to something more than a single lucky batch. It reflects consistency across a portfolio that spans multiple different styles and categories.
For any distillery, achieving that kind of range is difficult. Most craft producers are known for one or two core products. Wigle is performing at a competitive level across their entire lineup.
Pittsburgh's Most Awarded Craft Distillery
Wigle Whiskey has been building this reputation for years. The ACSA itself has previously named them the Most Awarded Craft Distillery, and USA Today ranked them among the top ten best craft distilleries in the country. Those aren't distinctions that get handed out lightly, and this latest performance at the ACSA Awards adds another layer to a track record that's becoming difficult to ignore.
What started as a grain-to-glass operation rooted in Pennsylvania agriculture has grown into one of the more recognized names in American craft whiskey. The connection to local farming isn't just marketing language for Wigle — it's the foundation their production model is built on, and it shows up in how their spirits are received when put in front of serious judges.
Why This Matters for American Craft Whiskey
The craft spirits industry in the United States has matured considerably over the past decade and a half. Early on, "craft" was more of a branding term than a guarantee of quality. That's changed. The producers who have survived and grown are the ones who focused on the product itself, not just the story around it.
What Wigle's performance at this year's ACSA Awards demonstrates is that the ceiling for American craft whiskey keeps rising. A small, independently owned distillery in Pittsburgh is putting out a rye that earns unanimous top marks from a national panel of judges. That's not a fluke. That's the result of having the right grain, the right process, and the patience to let the barrels do their work.
For anyone who has been paying attention to what's happening outside the major distillery brands, this is exactly the kind of result that confirms the craft sector is producing world-class spirits. The big names in American whiskey still command the most shelf space and the most name recognition, but competitions like the ACSA Awards continue to show that some of the most interesting and accomplished whiskey in the country is coming from producers most people outside the industry have never heard of.
Wigle Whiskey is becoming harder and harder to fit in that category.
