Woodinville Whiskey Port Cask Finished

One of the best whiskies of 2020?

By Not Masters of Malt

February 22^nd, 2021

FROM THE DISTILLER...

Woodinville Distillery Notes:

This truly small-batch bourbon starts with traditionally grown corn, rye and malted barley. 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. We take our fully matured 5-year straight bourbon and transfer it into Ruby Port barrels for 6 additional months. The Port finishing process adds a viscous mouthfeel with notes of candied cherry, dried plums, berries and chocolate on top of the traditional bourbon flavor characteristics.

BEHIND THE BOTTLE:

That’s right, we are doing another Woodinville whiskey review this week! The Washington distillery is quickly becoming a favorite of ours and this annual release is one of the best we’ve had from them so far. Continue reading to see what we thought of Woodinville Port Cask...

REVIEW:

Nose (8/10):

The port influence is super strong, in a good way! There are bursts of raisins, plums and other dark fruits coming from the glass. After letting the drink air out some, the fruit smells tame a bit and you are left with hints of vanilla, caramel and baking spices. A very pleasant and inviting nose.

Palate (9/10):

The port finishing shows up in a big way! The first drink is all port up front and then transitions into more of a mix of sweet red fruits with hints of caramel. The whiskey is super fruity and sweet and delicious! There is no proof sting at all which isn’t surprising since this is only 90 proof, a perfect proof for this kind of whiskey. Also, the palate is super thick and creamy on the tongue, kind of surprising since the age is only a little over 5 years.

Finish (7/10):

More port and raisin flavors here, as well as some cinnamon, oak and a hint of chocolate. Here’s the only real knock I have for this whiskey, it has a very drying finish. Every time I took a drink, I felt like I needed to follow-up with a sip of water and that only got worse the more I drank. This wasn’t enough to make me not enjoy the whiskey, but it was noticeable.

Price (9/10):

I was able to get this bottle for $50 before tax and for the amount of flavor and complexity, I think this is a steal at $50. Woodinville Port is delicious, one of my favorite whiskies of 2020 and a bottle I would gladly pay $50 dollars for without even thinking about it.

Aesthetics (5/5):

What a fantastic bottle design! I love the unique shape, the sepia toned label and the big cork with Woodinville branding on it. The bottle is also heavy, which gives it a nice quality feel. This is one of my favorite designs currently.

Availability (1/5):

Another downside to this whiskey is the fact that it is an annual and sought after release. I was fortunate to stumble upon it at my go to liquor store and snatch it up. The next day I went to see if they had anymore and they had already sold out of their stock. Other than that, I didn’t see it anywhere else in Ohio.

Overall (39/50): Top Shelf

Final Verdict:

As my esteemed colleague stated in his review for the Woodinville Ohio store pick, even though the Woodinville distillery is young, they are putting out quality products that are on par, if not better than some of their Big Brother distilleries. The Port Finished Bourbon is just flat out fantastic and was hands down one of the best and most unique whiskies I drank all year and I’m already looking forward to the next release. Who knew the state of Washington could make such good whiskey?