ASW Distillery sits in a warehouse at 199 Armour Drive, in the Armour Yards pocket between Buckhead and Midtown, and bills itself as Atlanta's hometown whiskey distillery. The tasting room pours flights, cocktails, and samples a few steps from the hand hammered Vendome copper pot stills that produce everything on the menu.
The hardware backs the slogan. By the distillery's own count it has collected more awards at the San Francisco World Spirits Competition than any other craft whiskey distillery since 2018, including 10 double gold medals, 19 golds across the Fiddler bourbon family, and the competition's 2020 Craft Whiskey of the Year for its Maris Otter single malt.
Who would love it: bourbon drinkers who want to taste at the source, and anyone planning what the distillery itself calls an adult field trip. Who would hate it: anyone looking for a nightly neighborhood bar, since the tasting room runs limited weekend forward hours.
The room
The space reads as working distillery first and bar second, barrels stacked along the walls, stills visible from the tasting counter, and a private lounge tucked off the main floor for events. Tours run on Fridays and Saturdays and walk the full production line before depositing you back at the bar.
The distilling team of Justin Manglitz, Whit Hagemann, Jerry McCalle, and Previn Perry releases roughly 3 to 4 specialty or cask finished whiskies per year, per the distillery's own FAQ, and the limited bottlings are the reason regulars keep returning. A private barrel program yields 220 to 300 custom bottles per barrel for shops and individuals.
What to order
Start with a Fiddler flight, the high wheat Fiddler bourbons drink soft with a caramel and maple finish and carry most of those 19 gold medals. Resurgens Rye, a double gold winner, is the pick for Manhattan drinkers, and the Duality double malt splits the difference between bourbon and Scotch in a way few American distilleries attempt. The bar also mixes cocktails from the house list if a neat pour feels like homework.
What regulars say
Across Yelp's 61 reviews and the Tripadvisor file, visitors consistently single out the tour guides by name, call the tasting generous for the ticket price, and recommend the Fiddler Heartwood as the bottle to carry home. The one recurring caution is the limited schedule, more than one reviewer drove over on a Tuesday to find the doors locked, so check the hours before you go.
Who it is for, and when to go
Per the distillery's own published hours, the Armour Drive room runs retail only on Wednesday and Thursday from 11am to 6pm, opens tours and tastings Friday from 3pm to 8pm, then Saturday 1pm to 6pm and Sunday 2pm to 6pm. Friday evening is the closest the room comes to bar energy, Saturday afternoon is the calm window for an unhurried flight.
Two sibling rooms extend the brand if Armour Drive's hours fail you: ASW at The Battery beside Truist Park opens daily until 10pm on game nights' doorstep, and the ASW Whiskey Exchange in the West End runs Thursday through Sunday. The original remains the one with the stills and the tour, book ahead through the distillery's site or Tock on event weekends.
Beer drinkers should note the crossover: ASW has sent used barrels to most of metro Atlanta's breweries for barrel aged releases, including Monday Night, Wild Heaven, and SweetWater, which is why it keeps company in our best craft beer in Atlanta ranking. Whiskey loyalists should pair it with the Atlanta whiskey bars list, then plan the rest of the night with the Atlanta bar guide or our craft beer worldwide index.
Sources: aswdistillery.com (2026-06); Explore Georgia; Tripadvisor; Yelp (June 2026); Wikipedia.
