In 2010, Woodinville Whiskey was established in Woodinville, Washington, 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.”
Woodinville uses a combination of custom-made copper pot and column stills with a distillation proof coming off the still at 140. Independent Stave Company (ISC) is used for their Cooper’s Select barrels seasoned for 18 to 24 months with level a #4 char and toasted heads. Woodinville’s distillate barrel entry proof is 110, another process Dave Pickerall recommended 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.
Jay West (t8ke) selected the Woodinville single barrel rye I’m reviewing today, chosen for the r/bourbon program last year. Jay said this was an extremely limited rye single cask release, and there was no guarantee the program would see another single barrel rye from Woodinville in 2024. The Woodinville history and specs were copied from my January 2022 Woodinville Single Barrel Bourbon review that Jay also picked, which I thought was great. Let’s get to it.
Taken: Neat in a Glencairn glass, rested for about 15 minutes.
Distillery: Woodinville Distillery.
Barrel#: 8328, selected by Jay West for r/bourbon.
Proof: 115, non-chill filtered.
Age: 5 years.
Mash bill: 100% Rye.
Price: $79.99.
Appearance: Golden caramel.
Nose
Toffee, brown sugar, honey, mint, green tea, fennel, nutmeg, dill, vanilla, apricots and baked apple, lemon citrus, dried flowers, cinnamon spice, and toasted oak. The perfect balance of all these flavors makes it easy to pick them out, with little to no proof of heat getting in the way. This is a complex and incredible nose I can smell for hours.
Palate
The nose moves to the palate with toffee, brown sugar, sage, nutmeg, dill, mint, vanilla bean, apricots, and baked apple, with some lemon peel brightness. A nice kick of cinnamon spice enters mid-sip, with toasted oak turning into soft pipe tobacco as it enters the finish. The mouthfeel is creamy and viscous.
Finish
Cinnamon spice lingers all over the palate with soft pipe tobacco. Vanilla, fennel, sage, dill, and lemon peel return with apricots. As this long finish continues, you’re left with cinnamon spice, toasted oak, and subtle apricots still hanging on.
Conclusion
With a 100% rye mash bill, I expected this to be very herbaceous, and it is in the best way. What I didn’t expect was so much delicious, sweet toffee, brown sugar, and toasted oak flavors. That, combined with the fruit and vanilla, makes for an excellent and complex rye whiskey. Also impressive are the well-balanced flavors, which add to the enjoyable drinking experience, and how this whiskey tastes more mature than its 5-year age statement. Woodinville includes a 90-proof 100% rye whiskey as part of its flagship lineup and a cask-strength version sold at the distillery. I’ve only tried this single barrel rye and a Woodinville single barrel bourbon, so I can’t speak to their flagship releases. My local store sells Woodinville’s 90-proof flagship rye whiskey for $40, which is a good deal if its flavor profile is similar to this barrel pick. I hope Jay West can pick another great single barrel from Woodinville someday because this one has exceeded my expectations.
Rating: 8.0/10.
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.
