Today a couple of friends invited me to join them at Woodinville Whiskey Co. for their Port Finished Bourbon Release event. I love bourbon and enjoy the taste of port, so how could I say no?
Melissa, the tasting room associate here, was her usual smiling and laid back self, despite the huge crowd of excited bourbon tasters. She poured me a taste of the port finished bourbon even though I insisted I would buy a bottle regardless. I’m a big fan of Woodinville Whiskey Co. and knew it would be delicious!
The release was a limited edition of 500 bottles and I didn’t want to miss out. I’m anticipating enjoying sipping this bourbon by the fire on a snowy or especially rainy evening this upcoming winter!
This previously used maple syrup barrel is for sale, in case anyone is looking for a new piece of home decor.
I stopped for a moment to admire this nicely arranged autumn display.
We were invited to join the in-progress distillery tour in the next room. I always have to pause to worship the beautiful and well-maintained equipment.
A vintage barrel top serves as both decor and a proud establishment notice.
The distillery is always kept immaculately clean and shiny. I can’t even begin to imagine what kind of hard work goes into maintaining this facility!
The distillers are clearly passionate about their work, and always happy to stop and chat and answer questions.
These massive alcohol storage tanks are amazing. You can read a bit more about the distillery here.
I am really embarrassed that I didn’t catch our tour guide’s name. He was incredibly knowledgeable (as he should be) about his craft and I learned so much from his tour and the questions he answered for us all afterwards.
Here he’s demonstrating how they use a nozzle to refill whiskey barrels, which lose a small but not insignificant percentage of their contents every year.
Quite a few of the tour members had questions about the barrels, their provenance, how many times they are used (once!), what they cost, and what happens to them afterwards.
This facility makes 7 barrels of whiskey every day. Many are stored here, but they also have a warehouse near Quincy to age more barrels. The weather in Quincy provides fluctuations in temperature that make the whiskeys tastier, apparently.
Massive piles of grain and barley are brought in, stored briefly, and used to make the whiskey. I’d never thought about it before, but imagine the trucks that have to bring these in constantly to supply the distillery’s needs.
After the tour, people wandered back to the tasting room to try a whiskey flight or purchase the limited edition port finished bourbon.
If you stop by tomorrow, you might be able to still purchase one of the limited edition port finished bourbon bottles! Also, you might ask if they have any of their 2017 Harvest Release left – it’s a Toasted Applewood Finished Bourbon.
-Carrie
Resources:
Woodinville Whiskey Co. on Facebook
