Oola Waitsburg Bourbon

After releasing their own lines of gins and vodkas, Seattle distillery Oola produced their first bourbon in 2012. It’s a highly praised and award-winning whiskey, comprised of a unique mashbill of 65% corn, 25% rye, 13% malted barley, and 12% white winter wheat. Their grains are sourced from two organic farms in Washington. Small casks, large casks, and fluctuating warehouse temperatures were employed during Oola’s creative process. It’s a young’un, to be sure, but it’s packed with enough delicious flavors to compensate for its tender years.

Review based on my third dram from a new bottle, cracked open just yesterday. Smooth enough to enjoy neat, although a couple of drops of water rounds and enriches the sweet stuff.

Nose: All the vanilla, corn, and caramel you want and expect from a bourbon are loud and dominant. Its uniqueness lay in its long list of subtle notes: butter, Italian dressing, pine trees, mixed peppercorns, cinnamon, floral potpourri, and baked cherries. A warm, soothing, inviting nose.

Palate: A puzzler. Zingy and complex, to be sure, but with maybe a little too much sourness and vinegar for my taste. Like a fruit salad with some unwelcome green olives and young oak. Good flavors in competition with youth. The sourness disappears the longer it sits, however.

Finish: It’s suddenly aged another five years. Long, warm, smooth, and full of well-rounded oak, vanilla, and caramel. Ends with a sassy pepper-cinnamon kick.

Another couple of years in the barrel might push this one into the 90s. Nevertheless, I give this one a strong recommendation. It’s packed with wonderful flavors, and Oola doesn’t cost much moolah.