Stumping the Mafia - The Unique Flavor Profile of Seattle Bourbon

I love the craft bourbon boom. There are people who say that a whiskey may be legally bourbon if it is made anywhere in the United States, but the "real stuff" is from Kentucky.  To me, that idea is a bit limiting, and honestly . . . boring. One of the things I've enjoyed most about my own personal exploration of whiskey has been the unique flavor profiles you can find in the different regions of the United States, and whenever I visit a new place I try to visit a distillery and/or pick up a bottle or two of the local craft bourbons from a local liquor store.

All bourbons are made from a few base ingredients, aged in new charred oak barrels and distilled and barreled ad specific proofs - and yet, there are a broad array of flavor profiles available within this relatively tight definition. These have largely to do with the mash bill, but also with regional differences in the water supply, climate, and soil.

One of my favorite trips for this was my visit three Seattle area distilleries with the "Seattle Chapter" of the Whiskey Mafia. Seattle has been called a single malt town, and with good reason. You even get a lot that single malt character in a Seattle Bourbon, partly because of the higher than average barley content in most Seattle mash bills, and partly because of its climate, which is fairly even in temperature and very rainy - much more like Scotland than Kentucky.

The fun doesn't stop there, though, I get to bring my bottles back and share them, blind, with my Whiskey Mafia brothers. I did this back in August in what was supposed to be a tasting on my pontoon boat, but ended up on my screen porch due to some less than stellar weather. I made the guys write their tasting notes at the time, so I still have them captured in time, even though I am really late writing this post.

I am pleased to report that two experienced whiskey connoisseurs had no idea what they were drinking. 

The Mafia Stumping Seattle Bourbon Flight Tasting Notes

First, the setup: I told them exactly what I had tasted on my tour of Seattle: five bourbons, three ryes, and an Irish whiskey. As usual, the tasting was blind and they didn’t know what the whiskeys were or the order, but I poured in this order, Skybound Spirits Bourbon, Fremont Mischief Canal Street Bourbon, and Batch 206 Old Log Cabin Bourbon. All were served neat in glencairn glasses.

Skybound Spirits Bourbon

Mash Bill: 56% corn, 28% malted barley, 16% rye. 92 proof. Aged 7 years.

Dan

Nose: Green apple, fresh cut hay. Did not get the usual vanilla and cherry notes he expects from Bourbon.

Palate: Young, fresh mint, pepper.

Finish: Long, dry, peppery.

Dan guessed incorrectly that this was an Irish whiskey. :-) He also remarked in his notes “This was good!”

Mitch

Nose: Apple, brown sugar.

Palate: Mint and leather, slight note of pepper.

Really, this is a lot for Mitch! :-)  He later said this was his favorite of the evening.

Fremont Mischief Canal St. Bourbon

Mash Bill: 51% corn, 30% rye, 19% malted barley. 90 proof. No age statement.

Dan

Nose: Fruity, light, fresh cut grass, little to no ethanol.

Palate: No bite, seemed low proof to Dan, light, melty, damp cardboard.

Finish: Short finish.

Mitch

Nose: Smells like whiskey.

Palate: Pepper, fiber

(That’s more like Mitch!)

Batch 206 Old Log Cabin Bourbon

Mash Bill: 51% corn, 49% malted barley. 86 proof. NAS but aged 3-4 years according to the distiller.

Dan

Nose: Apple, dark fruit, grain.  Smooth and sweet aroma.

Palate: Oily, smooth, sweet and light.

Finish:  Short sweet finish.

Mitch

Nose: Smells like whiskey.

Palate: Pepper, Mint, Wood

Finish: Lingering, sweet.

The Bonus Pour: Batch 206 Barrel Raider Irish Whiskey

Given that I had told Dan and Mitch that I had tasted an Irish whiskey, and baited Dan into thinking a bourbon was Irish, I thought it only right to follow up my flight with a pour of Barrel Raider. A whiskey distilled in Ireland and aged there for three years before being brought to Seattle and finished for four years in a Old Log Cabin bourbon barrel. It too is a bit of a contortionist, because its mash bill consists of 95% corn, unlike many Irish whiskies that are based mostly on a combination of malted and un-malted barley.  

Maybe you're a died-in-the-wool Kentucky bourbon type. That's fine by me, but whether you consider it "real bourbon" or not I'd encourage you to get out and explore what regional craft distilleries are making.  Maybe it doesn't taste like bourbon to you, even if legally it is, but there is a lot of very good whiskey being made by craft distillers - good whiskey that can really expand your view of what's possible in just about any whiskey genre.

Want to join us for a tasting on Zoom sometime?  Winter is coming and we'll be back on Zoom again soon, so join the mafia, and we'll let you know when the hit is going down!