Sauced

Dry Fly About to Release Washington’s First Bourbon

Production is extremely limited, here’s how to get your hands on it.

Posted by: Jessica Voelker on Jul 21, 2011 at 01:18PM 9 Comments

Dry Fly’s bourbon looks like this.

Spokane distillery Dry Fly will release 480 bottles of its bourbon, our state’s first legal batch since prohibition [or maybe not—see comments], at the end of this month.

Obviously, that’s not a lot of bottles. To get one, go to the distillery beginning (and probably ending) July 30 or the Interbay liquor store on August 6. Each location will get 240 bottles.

And there is a third option: Dry Fly is doing a charity auction/release party on August 5 at the Mayflower Park Hotel in downtown Seattle. It will auction off a whiskey kit with a bottle, glassware, etc. and 10 people will win the chance to have a bottle set aside for them for purchase. Tickets are $75; reserve by emailing DryFly@evadopr.com.

You may be thinking: But doesn’t bourbon have to be made in Kentucky? The answer is no. That would be Kentucky bourbon. Straight bourbon does have to be made in the USA and the mash has to contain at least 51 percent corn. It can’t be over 160 proof. It also has to age in a barrel for at least two years. I believe any type of barrel is okay, I’m sure if I’m wrong about that someone will let me know. [Sure enough, I was wrong. It has to be new charred oak. See comments.]

Dry Fly’s bourbon was aged for three years in American oak with 100 percent Washington ingredients. It’s made from 60 percent corn, 20 percent malted barley, and 20 percent wheat. According to the distillery it has a “bold palate appeal and strong finish with hints of Madagascar vanilla plus cinnamon, nutmeg, caramel, and dried orange peel.”

It will retail for $64.95.

Add a Comment »

Tags: Microdistilleries, Distillery Report, Bourbon

Sidetrack Distillery Opens Saturday

The tasting room will also be pouring on the Fourth.

Posted by: Jessica Voelker on Jun 30, 2011 at 01:28PM 2 Comments

Freedom juice! Celebrate the fourth with berry liqueurs from Sidetrack Distillery in Kent.

I just got word from part-owner Linda Person that Sidetrack Distillery is finally ready to open its tasting room to the public.

Beginning July 2, you can visit the distillery’s tasting room at Lazy River Farms in Kent to sample and buy berry liqueurs made from the fruit that grows there. The Persons—Linda and her husband Larry—used to run the farm as a u-pick operation, and they encourage distillery visitors to picnic among the berry bushes. There are tables on the premises designed for such purposes.

Person says the tasting room will usually be open weekends only, but an exception is being made for the holiday. So if you’re still looking for something to do on Monday the Fourth of July, well, I think you should bring a picnic to the berry farm where there’s booze.

Add a Comment »

Tags: Microdistilleries, Distillery Report, Liqueurs

Sidetrack Distillery Opening Soon on Lazy River Farm

A couple of Kent-based berry farmers get into the booze biz.

Posted by: Jessica Voelker on May 25, 2011 at 02:48PM 2 Comments

Sidetrack’s raspberry liqueur.

Larry and Linda Person grow berries in Kent at Lazy River Farm, formerly a u-pick attraction. And now—along with nephew David O’Neal—they’re getting into the booze game, making raspberry, blueberry, strawberry, and blackberry liqueurs as well as strawberry and blueberry brandies from fruit grown on the property.

The liqueur recipe, says Linda, was developed by trial and error. “We start with a certain amount of berries and a certain amount of alcohol and then we add more as needed,” she said. The Persons add very little sugar to their concoctions, aiming to bring out the flavor of the fruit first.

The Persons hope to open Sidetrack’s tasting room in the next couple of weeks (I’ll let you know). Linda said she’s planning to start with weekend hours and see what sort of response Sidetrack gets. The products will also be available by special order through liquor stores.

Lazy River Farm is located at 27010 78th Avenue South in Kent.

Add a Comment »

Tags: Microdistilleries, Distillery Report

Soft Tail Spirits Opens Second Woodinville Tasting Room

…and plans to release new products in the coming months.

Posted by: Jessica Voelker on May 18, 2011 at 07:53AM 0 Comments

Soft Tail’s original tasting room.

Photo: Facebook

Grappa and vodka maker Soft Tail Spirits will host a grand opening party this weekend at the microdistillery’s second tasting room, says part-owner Dennis Robertson. The company has expanded into a single-occupancy house at 14356 Woodinville Redmond Road for two reasons.

First: Soft Tail has grown out of its current space on Woodinville Drive. At liquor stores, products are selling faster than they can be made, reports Robertson. The company also hopes the new 1,000 square foot space, which has two outdoor patios, will be booked for private parties. Inside, there’s a 20-foot marble bar for tastings that Robertson procured through his other business—a stone company. There are two new stills on their way to the new space, which will double Soft Tail’s distilling capacities.

Second: The new digs are right in the middle of Woodinville’s tourist district and Soft Tail hopes to pull some of that sweet, sweet street traffic away from the wineries. “We don’t have a lot of money for advertising and marketing, so we have to grow organically,” says Robertson, who says Soft Tail has some new releases planned for the coming months that include an oaked grappa, a viognier grappa, and a “cognac-style product” that has rested on oak for two years. (As one of the oldest microdistilleries in the state, two-year-old Soft Tail will also be one of the first to release aged products.)

If you want to check out Soft Tail II, stop by this Saturday, May 21 when the distillery is hosting a pig roast at its Woodinville-Redmond Road tasting room from noon to 5pm. There will be pork sliders, potato salad, baked beans, and of course some bracing brandies to wash it all down.

Add a Comment »

Tags: Woodinville, Vodka, Microdistilleries, Distillery Report, Distilling, Grappa

Distillery News: Local Bottles Win at San Francisco World Spirits Competition

Plus, now you can buy Woodinville Whiskey products in state stores.

Posted by: Jessica Voelker on Mar 29, 2011 at 10:09AM 2 Comments

Photo: Andrew Waits

Pacific Distillery’s excellent Absinthe Pacifique won big in San Francisco.

Starting March 29, Headlong—Woodinville Whiskey’s unaged whiskey—will be on shelves at Washington State liquor stores; the Peabody Jones vodka is on its way to getting listed in state stores too, reports Woodinville Whiskey’s Cameron Rogers.

The week before last Peabody Jones won a silver medal at the San Francisco World Spirits Competition. And speaking of that competition, another Woodinville-based distillery, Pacific, did some butt-kicking there this year too. Distiller/owner Marc Bernhard’s Voyager gin won a double gold medal, his Absinthe Pacifique won gold.

I agree with your choices, San Francisco World Spirits Competition. That’s why I included both of Voyager’s products (as well as Headlong, onto which the Beverage Testing Institute recently bestowed a whooping 92 points—pretty fly for a white guy) in this recent roundup of recommended local spirits, bitters, and grappas.

Add a Comment »

Tags: Whiskey, Awards and Accolades, Vodka, Microdistilleries, Distillery Report, Absinthe, Seattle Spirits

Distillery Report: Bourbon in Woodinville

See you in 2012, J.P. Trodden.

Posted by: Jessica Voelker on Aug 04, 2010 at 10:42AM 10 Comments

JP Trodden’s whiskey will age for two years at a Woodinville warehouse.

J.P. Trodden, a new Woodinville-based craft distiller, is about to start production on a bourbon-style whiskey.

To qualify as a bourbon [this should read “straight bourbon,” see comments for details], whiskey has to be made in the United States from at least 51 percent corn and aged for at least two years in New American oak barrels. In other words, you won’t be tasting J.P. Trodden whiskey for some time.

Distiller Mark Nesheim, who owns J.P. Trodden with wife Jennifer Severson, graduated from the apprentice program at Dry Fly in Spokane. He says he and his wife are big fans of bourbon, so when the law changed the decided to try their hand at making it.

While most new craft distilleries are starting out with an unaged spirit so that they can get a product to the people as soon as possible, Nesheim and Severson are only making whiskey.I look forward to tasting it in 2012.

Add a Comment »

Tags: Whiskey, Woodinville, Microdistilleries, Distillery Report

Distillery Report: The Latest Numbers

Here’s a snapshot of the Washington craft distillery scene as it stands.

Posted by: Jessica Voelker on May 14, 2010 at 03:12PM 0 Comments

As of last count, there are 14 approved craft distilleries in Washington State.

Three of those are in operation: Dry Fly in Spokane, Ellensburg Distillery in Ellensburg, and Soft Tail Spirits in Woodinville.

Of the 11 approved projects that have yet to open for business, three are in Seattle. Sound Spirits will likely be the first to open shop in Seattle. Other distillers hope to welcome visitors to tastings rooms in places like Bainbridge Island, Chehalis, and Concrete. Here’s an unrelated piece of information: Concrete is also the setting of This Boys Life by Tobias Wolff, one of the great American coming-of-age memoirs.

There are 18 pending craft distilling applications, with new ones filed with the LCB almost daily, or at least it seems. I call the applicants all the time to learn their plans, and I should mention that not all the applications are to be taken entirely seriously. But when you think about the fact that two years ago there were exactly zero distilleries in Washington State, and that it had been that way since prohibition, it’s all pretty remarkable.

Add a Comment »

Tags: Local Spirits, Locaboozers, Microdistilleries, Distillery Report

Distillery Report: Rum-making operation to Open in Enumclaw

RNR Distilling will offer four sorts of spirit and a buccolic experience that recalls the “old Seattle.”

Posted by: Jessica Voelker on May 06, 2010 at 10:56AM 3 Comments

A barn

Gary Whisler of RNR Distilling makes whiskey—he says his recipe comes from an Appalachian uncle named Eli—vodka, rum (white, but he’ll be aging some too), and a pomegranate brandy created with fruit from a family orchard in Nevada.

Whisler grew up in Seattle, and misses the old town—“real Seattle not real estate Seattle,” as he puts it. He says Enumclaw still has some of the relaxed spirit he remembers from his Seattle youth, and he wants to capture that feeling in the barn he is converting into a tasting room. He envisions people coming to hang out and taste the spirits while they soak up the rural surroundings. He’ll invite musicians and artists to entertain and delight them. It’ll be a party. The distillery will be open to visitors at 10am most days. “I’ll be in the back making my mash,” says Whisler. He says he’ll stay open as late as he’s allowed.

RNR will produce about 20,000 gallons of booze annually, Whisler hopes to be up and running by September 1.

Oh and hey, I’m trying to report on new Washington State distilleries as I hear about them. Click on the “microdistilleries” tag below to read all about them.

Add a Comment »

Tags: Whiskey, Vodka, Rum, Microdistilleries, Enumclaw, Distillery Report