Woodinville Bourbon Sauternes Finish
Woodinville Bourbon Sauternes Finish
Straight Bourbon Whiskey Finished in Sauternes Casks
52.5% ABV
$70
Website
We would like to thank Woodinville Whiskey for sending us a sample to review.
What the Producer Says
Woodinville, WA – This fall, as part of its annual Harvest Release, Woodinville Whiskey will introduce Woodinville Bourbon Sauternes Finish, a grain to glass offering, priced at $69.99 per bottle. Woodinville co-founder and distiller Brett Carlile describes it as having “notes of raisins and ripe plum on the nose that give way to vanilla-soaked pears and kiwi on the palate, with a creamy toffee finish, complimenting the traditional Bourbon characteristics.”
This spring, Woodinville Bourbon Sauternes Finish earned Double Platinum in Fred Minnick’s 2024 ASCOT competition. This truly small-batch spirit starts with traditionally grown corn, rye and malted barley. All of Woodinville’s staple grains are cultivated exclusively on the Omlin Family farm in Quincy, Washington. The grains are mashed and distilled in the Woodinville, WA distillery, then trucked back over the Cascade Mountains for barreling and aging in their 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. After the whiskey was fully mature, it was transferred into freshly emptied Sauternes casks.
The first 500 numbered bottles of Woodinville Bourbon Sauternes Finish will be released exclusively at the distillery’s Harvest Release on October 19 at $69.99 per bottle (105 proof). The Harvest Release will also feature Woodinville Whiskey’s Founder’s Find, priced at $129.99 per bottle (107 proof). The first 500 numbered bottles of this whiskey will also be available that day, when Brett and Orlin will be joined by Fred Minnick to taste the whiskeys and sign bottles. Both Harvest Release whiskeys will be available online at a later date.
What Gary Says
Nose: Fruity, apples and pears with caramel drizzle, vanilla, raisins, soft oak, honey with a hint of green grapes.
Palate: Creamy mouthfeel, caramel, vanilla, fruit salad with pears and cherries dusted with cinnamon, brown sugar, and a hint of cloves.
Finish: Moderate to long finish with toffee, pepper spice and a bit of coconut.
Comments: This is really lovely whiskey! I had tried Woodinville previously, and honestly wasn’t impressed. Now I’m second guessing if the sample I had was just off, or if my palate was off. This is just a stellar bourbon. It doesn’t need water, but rewards you if you give it just a couple of drops, thickening up even more with notes of chocolate fudge, as well as bring out a bit of cherries on the nose. Don’t see a lot of Sauternes finished bourbon, so hard to compare it to something else – but this is a whiskey that is delicious to just sit back and sip on, or if you want to ponder the nuance it can go there as well. Very well done!