Root Shoot’s American Single Malt Takes Spirit of the Year at the London Spirits Competition
There’s a farm in Loveland, Colorado, sitting at the foot of the Rockies, where a fifth-generation family has been working the same land for over a century. For most of that time, the Olander family was known for growing grain. Now, the world knows them for something else entirely: making what judges at one of the most respected spirits competitions on the planet just declared the best whiskey in the world.
Image credit: Root Shoot Whiskey
Root Shoot Spirits’ American Single Malt Whiskey didn’t just win a category at the 2026 London Spirits Competition. It swept the floor. The Colorado-made spirit walked away with Spirit of the Year, Whisky of the Year, and American Single Malt Whiskey of the Year — a triple crown that almost never happens. Judges handed it an overall score of 97 out of 100. To put that in perspective, the London Spirits Competition receives several thousand entries from distilleries across the globe every year. Root Shoot beat all of them…