Hello Batch No. 3! Our latest limited-edition is a 5-year old port finish American single malt, and our most refined whiskey to date. It’s a late night, fireside sipper and makes for an elegant whiskey cocktail. 

It’s been over 5 years since our first distillery collaboration; a project with Matt Hoffman and the team at Westland Distillery. Since then, we’ve released three limited-edition American single malt whiskeys and completed two further distillery collaborations, with partners in Texas and Virginia. 

Here’s the story of Batch No. 3’s journey from grain to glass:

Batch No. 3 was distilled in partnership with Westland Distillery and has the same Pacific Northwest specialty grain bill as Batch No. 1 and Batch No. 2. The whiskey was first aged for three years in new American oak barrels. Then Phil decided to transfer to used bourbon barrels to mature for two more years. During this time, Phil pondered on the perfect finishing barrel.

He was looking to balance out the dry character of the first two batches by adding a finishing barrel that would add a different kind of depth and sweetness to compliment the complex grain bill and velvety texture of the matured whiskey.

THE FINISHING BARREL CHOICE…

Time and again, he kept coming back to the idea of adding sweetness from dark red fruits. Then one night as he sat by the roaring wood stove at the farm nosing samples it hit him; Port wine casks might just be the ticket! 

So, we started the search for the right type and quality of barrels and ended up sourcing two lots of excellent French white oak casks that had previously been used to age port style wines from producers in California and France.

WOAH….IT’S ALREADY READY!

We transferred the whiskey and prepared to wait. To our surprise the wait wasn’t terribly long! Within six weeks (likely due to the low alcohol content of the port wine in the wood versus the ABV of the whiskey plus the warm 2019 summer temperatures at the Farm), he felt that the whiskey had arrived at the perfect balance point of dry and sweet.

THE OUTCOME…

Could it have stayed in longer? Sure, but Phil’s vision was not to have the port influence overshadow the whiskey itself. We think you will find Batch No. 3 to be the most perfectly balanced, port finish American single malt whiskey. it excels in its elegant balance of spicy barley malts, dark fruit aromas, and high-quality barrel maturation. 

As always, it’s a limited-edition whiskey and we will produce only 2,250 bottles that will be distributed in stores and bars in Oregon and Washington and sold online to 34 US states. 

BATCH NO.3 TASTING NOTES

Here are Phil’s Tasting Notes. Up for sharing yours? We’d love to hear from you! Please email us or get in touch via social media. 

Nose– Notes of warm caramel with sea salt, cocoa, and balanced malt start you off. A second smell lends components of dried dark fruits and vanilla bean. The last smell is a balance of honeyed graham cracker mingled with American oak. 

Palate– The spicy combination of malts strikes the palate first leading into a warm round nuttiness of pecan in the middle of the palate. A second sip reveals vanilla and sandalwood blending with the same dried dark fruit notes found on the nose before gently hinting at bits of cocoa. The finish is long and balanced leaving your palate perfectly warmed of baking spice and savory caramel.