Woodinville Cask Strength Single Barrel
Mike Rosen

Bourbon

January 22, 2022

In Woodinville, Washington, Woodinville Whiskey was established in 2010 by Orlin Sorensen & Brett Carlile. Best friends since college, Brett, and Orlin often talked about starting a business together and, in 2009, set a plan in motion to open a distillery in the Seattle area. Unfortunately, this was when the country was in the middle of a nationwide financial crisis, and banks were going out of business. Because of this and the fact that neither of them had any prior experience making whiskey, it was nearly impossible to get a small business loan. After getting turned down by about a dozen banks, Orlin and Brett pitched their idea to a local bank in Woodinville. As fate would have it, they found someone who believed in their plan and was willing to give them the capital to pursue their dream.

Soon, they found a business location and purchased the equipment needed to get them started. The next on their agenda was finding someone to teach them how to make good whiskey. To accomplish this, Orlin and Brett convinced Dave Pickerall (known as the “Johnny Appleseed” of craft distilleries) to come on board to train them in every stage of the whiskey production process. Dave Pickerall was passionate about rye whiskey, and Orlin and Brett loved the flavors rye brought to the experimental distillates. This led to the team choosing the 22% rye bourbon and the 100% rye mash bills that Woodinville uses today.

“All of our staple grains are cultivated exclusively for us on the Omlin Family farm in Quincy, Washington. The grains are mashed, distilled, and barreled in our Woodinville distillery, then trucked back over the Cascade Mountains to our private barrel houses, where Central Washington’s extreme temperature cycles promote the extraction of natural flavors from the oak. Prior to being coopered, the barrel wood is seasoned in open air, rain, wind, sun, and snow for eighteen months, softening the wood’s harsh tannins. The barrels are then slowly toasted and heavily charred to further enrich the wood’s desirable flavors”.

More specifically, Woodinville uses Independent Stave Company (ISC) Cooper’s Select seasoned barrels with a #4 level char and toasted heads. Their distillate barrel entry proof is 110, a practice Dave Pickerall brought from his days at Maker’s Mark. Other aspects that influence Woodinville’s flavor profile are the non-GMO grains from the Omlin family farm and the use of open fermenters that capture native organisms such as wild yeasts and bacteria from the many local wineries in and around the Woodinville Whiskey distillery.

In 2017, the French spirits company Moët Hennessy (Glenmorangie, Ardbeg) purchased Woodinville to add to its portfolio. Sorensen and Carlile continue to oversee Woodinville’s daily operations. Let’s get to it!

Taken: Neat in a Glencairn glass, rested for about 15 minutes.

Distillery: Woodinville Whiskey Distillery.

Proof: 117.78.

Age: 5 years.

Barrel #: 5819. Selected by Jay West for r/bourbon.

Mash bill: 72% Corn, 22% Rye, 6% Malted Barley.

Price: $81.99.

Appearance: Dark golden caramel.

Nose

Wood smoke, molasses, hazelnut, vanilla, celery, sage, dill, black tea, berries, banana rind, nutmeg and oak. As this glass opens up, the smokier notes turn into a sweeter toffee and chocolate with more vanilla, banana, stone fruit, and berries.

Palate

The first thing I notice is a very good creamy mouthfeel. The nose transfers nicely to the palate with less smoke and more oak, with delicious rich toffee and hazelnuts with a hint of chocolate. Herbal notes of sage, tea, and dill are upfront with vanilla bean, banana, berries, and a hint of peach. Allspice gently enters mid-sip and covers every bit of the palate (but never dominates the sip) with a very tasty, toasted oak flavor that continues to the finish. It’s amazing how this delicious pour drinks well below its proof.

Finish

Allspice and oak linger with toffee, vanilla, stone fruit, sage, and tea. Oak continues with sweet leather tannins to create a very long finish.

Conclusion

This Woodinville single barrel selection was the first review I posted on the r/bourbon subreddit in January 2022. I returned to this bottle in May 2023 to re-review it for Mostly Bourbon. I’m glad I saved enough to compare it over a year later. I liked it as much this time as before and could elaborate on my tasting notes.

Most of Woodinville’s story at the beginning of this review came from video interviews with Brett Carlile in 2020 from Bourbon Real Talk and the Bourbon Pursuit Podcast. When talking to Bourbon Pursuit, Brett mentioned that five years became the “sweet spot” for the age they liked best for their whiskeys. Though I would love to know what a Woodinville bourbon barrel aged 7 to 10 years tastes like, I can imagine how a few more years could ruin this barrel if they weren’t careful. Despite the “5-year rule”, Brett said they’re holding back barrels for a special release but wouldn’t say when. That was three years ago, so maybe we’ll see a special older-aged release from Woodinville in the future. I love Woodinville’s flavor profile, philosophy, and dedication to quality, and I look forward to what they do next.

Rating: 7.8/10.

1 | Disgusting | So bad I poured it out.
2 | Poor | I wouldn’t consume by choice.
3 | Bad | Multiple flaws.
4 | Sub-par | Not bad, but better exists.
5 | Good | Good, just fine.
6 | Very Good | A cut above.
7 | Great | Well above average.
8 | Excellent | Really quite exceptional.
9 | Incredible | An all time favorite.
10 | Perfect | Perfect.

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