Honeycomb | Cereal grain | Faint vanilla | Light oak | Muted overall

Honey | Crisp cinnamon apple | White peppercorn | Faint malted barley | Vanilla | Sweet

Honey | Dry oak | Green peppercorn | Light tobacco leaf | Light leather

Located on the waterfront in downtown Seattle, Washington, Copperworks was founded by co-owners/distillers Jason Parker and Micah Nutt. The two were experienced craft beer makers who, the company states, “built Copperworks to explore the possibilities of malted barley by distilling high-quality craft beer (without hops) into fine spirits.” Farmsmith is part of the company’s new expanded core lineup, which “celebrates the barley fields of Washington by exploring the impact of single variety, single farm, and single growing year barley in this ever-changing whiskey. While this expression will always be part of our lineup, each release will feature a different barley varietal, farm, and/or growing year.” This batch of Farmsmith consists of 8 barrels distilled from Baronesse barley that was grown at Joseph’s Grainery in Colfax and malted by LINC Malt in Spokane.  

Opening with a muted overall presence, the nose displays scents of honeycomb, cereal grain, oak, and vanilla. Thankfully, the palate brings much more intrigue, highlighting exciting sweet notes of honey, prominent crisp cinnamon apples, and vanilla. It’s the highlight of the sip before transitioning into the finish, which comes close to matching its presence thanks to its notes of honey, dry oak, and light leather.

Farmsmith is an interesting thought experiment, and I appreciate the fact that the company is highlighting single variety/farm/growing years for consumers to explore. It’s something that you’ll see often in the world of wine, yet are few and far between in the world of American whiskey. This initial batch will be fun to compare against future batches to see how time and mother nature impart their presence on future releases.