Woodinville Whiskeymaker Has Big Plans
Opening in mid-June, Puget Sound Distilling will make three whiskies and a vodka.
Posted by: Jessica Voelker on Apr 13, 2010 at 02:27PM
3 Comments
Most of the new Seattle-area microdistilleries I talk to don’t have a PR rep, or a marketing team developing their label, but Orlin Sorensen and Brett Carlile of Puget Sound Distilling Company have big plans—and, it would seem, the requisite finances to put them in action.
Their Woodinville-based distillery and tasting room will open in mid-June on Woodinville-Redmond Road, near the Tefft Cellars tasting room. There they will produce an organic vodka plus three types of whiskey: a bourbon, a single-malt scotch, and a third whiskey made from 100-percent Washington ingredients.
Distilling these, says Sorensen, will be one of the top whiskey distillers in the world. Who is it? He says he is contractually obligated to keep that under wraps for the moment. So we’ll leave that alone. Here’s what he did say: The company has purchased a still made from hand-hammered copper in Germany and other top-of-the-line equipment that is much more “technically advanced” than what we’ve seen so far around these parts. He hopes the products will be available in liquor stores as early as this summer, and eventually hopes to distribute nationwide.
Sorensen told me he and Carlile chose a Woodinville location after years of accompanying their wives on winery tours and tasting trips in the area. Why not create something in Woodinville that would appeal to people like them, who weren’t interested in wine? “I thought of it as a built-in destination” says Sorensen. He gave a nod to the “great products and people” over at Soft Tail, but, he added, “we plan to be much bigger than that.”
Look for more news about Puget Sound—including the name of that famous distiller—in weeks to come.
Tags: Whiskey, Vodka, Microdistilleries
As a native of Washington, now living in the heart of bourbon country (Nelson County, KY). This sounds interesting and I would love to purchase Washington bourbon when its available!
IT’S ABOUT TIME! Seems long over due that the Pac NW has a whiskey distiller. My hat is off to you and I wish you well. I’ll be among the first to sample. And FYI I have a couple of red waxed bottles signed by David Pickerell. So you have my approval.
I have read several articles regarding the burgeoning distillery industry in Washington State. I’m curious if and when in this process of establishing ourselves as a Whisky contender the industry will adopt a name to describe the regional attributes of our Whisky.
Example: Scotch cannot be called Scotch unless it comes from Scotland (i.e.Glenmorangie), Bourbon is only Bourbon if it comes from Kentucky (i.e. Jim Beam) and Tennesee Whiskey or Jack Daniels…well, you get the point.
Many of these articles mention the advent of Scotch and Bourbon whiskies here in Washington, may I submit that this is not the correct context to use when describing whiskies distilled outside of their respective regions.
We need our own identity! Suggestions anyone?