Woodinville Straight Bourbon Whiskey 750ml
Woodinville Whiskey Co. was founded in 2010 by childhood friends Orlin Sorensen and Brett Carlile, who set out to build a genuine grain-to-glass whiskey in Washington State, mashing, distilling, and barreling everything themselves rather than sourcing spirit from elsewhere. They leaned on the mentorship of Dave Pickerell, the longtime master distiller at Maker's Mark, to learn the craft, and every batch of grain still comes from a single source, the Omlin family farm in Quincy, Washington. Moët Hennessy acquired the distillery in 2017, but Sorensen and Carlile have continued running day-to-day operations, and Woodinville has grown into the largest distillery in the state.
The flagship Straight Bourbon uses a mash bill of 72 percent corn, 22 percent rye, and 6 percent malted barley, distilled and barreled at the Woodinville facility before the filled barrels are trucked over the Cascade Mountains to the company's private aging warehouses. Woodinville worked closely with the Independent Stave Company early on to help develop a custom barrel program, eventually settling on staves seasoned for 18 months and finished with a heavy toast and heavy char. The bourbon carries no age statement, though the distillery has confirmed it uses whiskey around five years old, and it's bottled at 90 proof, or 45 percent ABV.
The nose brings crisp apple and white peach alongside cedar, vanilla, and a thin caramel sweetness. On the palate, caramel and brown sugar lead into baking spice and rye spice, with vanilla and oak rounding out the sip. The finish closes on vanilla, oak, and a touch of leather, with white peppercorn and a last trace of brown sugar lingering after the last sip.