Dark fruits | Raisin | Plum | Slight grain | Youthful

Dark fruits | Raisin | Plum | Graham cracker | Caramel | Tobacco | Allspice | Dry tannins

Spice upfront | Vanilla custard | Leather | Dry aged oak | Satisfying conclusion

Woodinville Bourbon Sauternes Finish is a limited edition released alongside Woodinville Founder’s Find as part of the distillery’s Harvest Release on October 19, 2024. The first 500 numbered bottles were made available at the distillery, with the remainder released online thereafter.

This whiskey begins with Woodinville Whiskey Company straight bourbon, which is distilled in a copper pot still, aged in barrels that are open-air seasoned for 18 months and then slowly toasted and heavily charred, before being finished in freshly emptied Sauternes casks for an undisclosed amount of time.

The whiskey is complex, and while it doesn’t reach its full potential with some youth on the nose and a bit heavy on dry tannins in the midpalate, it’s enjoyable nonetheless. The aroma brings dark fruits, raisin, and plum, but there’s a slight graininess to it that echoes a hint of bourbon that hasn’t been aged long enough and doesn’t bode confidence at the start. This resolves on the palate, which folds dark fruits, raisin, and plum into more savory flavors of graham cracker, caramel, and tobacco before riding out a wave of allspice. Contrasting the nose, the finish is highly developed and really well done, with no indication of being underaged. It brings in a vanilla custard note against savory flavors, which makes for an enjoyable conclusion.

Overall, Woodinville Bourbon Sauternes Finish is not without its faults, but this can be true of Sauternes finished whiskeys, and it makes up for it with a satisfying finish.