Black raspberry | Cherry | Vanilla | Almond | Aged oak

Sweet dark cherry | Apricot | Maple syrup | Caramel | Aged oak | Leather | Slightly dry | Impeccably balanced

Baking spices | Rich cream soda | Brown sugar | Hint of tobacco | Long with a lingering spice note

Started in 2010 by Orlin Sorensen and Brett Carlile, Woodinville is located in the state of Washington. The company sources all of their staple grains exclusively from the Omlin Family farm in Quincy, Washington. The grains are mashed, distilled, and barreled at their Woodinville Distillery, and then trucked back over the Cascade Mountains to the company’s private barrel houses.

This limited edition 8 year old release represents the culmination of over 10 years of work for the company, with a significant focus on the barrels used to age the whiskey. As a result of that experimentation, this whiskey was aged in heavily toasted, lightly charred Independent Stave Company barrels made from 24-month open-air seasoned staves. Tested by gas chromatography at the 4.5 year mark, according to the company, these barrels were discovered to “have significantly higher amounts of whiskey’s favorite core compounds: furfural (sweetness, almond, baked bread), vanillin (vanilla, creaminess), and phenols, namely guaiacol (smoky, spicy) and 4-methyl guaiacol (sweet, candy, clove, leather).” At the point of testing, Sorenson and Carlile found the whiskey to still have slight graininess, and ultimately continued to age for an additional 4 years before bottling.

Contrasting Woodinville’s flagship bourbon, which has a mashbill of 72% corn, 22% rye, and 6% malted barley, for this 8 year old limited edition, a 55% corn, 35% rye, and 10% malted barley mashbill was used in additional to dialing up the proof from 90 to 100. While I’m generally inclined to have a preference towards barrel proof limited edition releases, and we had the chance to select a barrel proof single barrel for our barrel club back in 2020, the proof for this 8 year old release is spot on.

The whiskey is an explosion of flavors that find impeccable balance. An assortment of fruit flavors, traditionally-driven sweeter barrel flavors of caramel and vanilla, higher age-driven flavors of aged oak and leather start the sip. It furthers dials in sweet flavors of maple syrup, brown sugar, and even a cream soda note on the finish. Contrasted against ample but not overpowering spice, makes for a rich, complex, and immediately memorable pour.

It’s not often bourbons find this perfect marriage of flavors across such a dynamic range, especially considering this is a straight bourbon that has not even attained the double digit age mark (though it’s close). This release will put Woodinville Whiskey Company on newcomer’s radar, and reinvigorate existing fans’ appreciation of the brand. It’s a must-buy limited edition release that more than justifies its price point.

This limited edition bourbon was released in two stages. A pre-release event was hosted at the distillery on August 17, during which 500 hand-numbered bottles were released and sold out within 2.5 hours. A national rollout follows, on September 1. According to the company, this initial 8 year limited edition will be followed by a 9 year in 2025, and a 10 year old in 2026.

The bottle in review is numbered 551.