Dry Fly 8 Yr. Store Pick Wheat Whiskey

Specialty Barrel #390 The nose shows fresh threshed wheat, vanilla, toffee, chicory, sweet barrel notes, spring mint, and some anise. The palate has a great texture and presence irrespective of added water with orange peel, maple, toffee, and baking spices. This barrelling of #390 happened in mid-September 2013, and it was bottled 8 years and 9 months later at a cask strength of 143.8 proof. D&M Tasting Notes

(Listed proof divided by two is the alcohol by volume.) In cooler or damp environments like Scotland, the alcohol will generally drop over the years between barrelling and bottling. In warm and humid environments, the alcohol will actually increase over time, and Spokane definitely qualifies as a warm environment. The 105 months that the spirit rested in the barrel started out at 120 proof and ended at 143.8 proof or 71.9% ABV. This is to our recollection the most robust cask strength we have ever sent your way. While we do enjoy our cask strength whiskies at full concentration, we learned long ago that adding water allows for an unpacking of the aroma set of the whiskey and that everybody has a favorite concentration. We cracked a bottle and did the calculation so that you don’t have to turn this “concentrate” into your preferred ABV. Karen’s preference: 1 oz spirit + .5 teaspoon water = 66.4% ABV. Michael’s preference: 1 oz spirit + 1 teaspoon = 61.6% ABV Susan’s preference: 1 oz spirit + 1 Tablespoon water = 48% ABV David’s Preference: 1oz spirit + 1T and .25 teaspoon water = 46.6% ABV. If you care to see how we found the flavor to change with the various proofs, take a look at the video explainer Michael put together.

Since Karen discovered this distillery at a Whiskies of the World tasting eight years ago, we have been impressed by what they are doing in the grain belt of Washington state. We last brought you a cask strength Bourbon from them in 2018, and wanted to update you on what Dry Fly has been up to. The genesis that would become the distillery began during a fly fishing trip when two buddies, tired of the corporate rat race, bantered around the idea of trying this new ‘craft distilling thing.’ Kent Fleischmann and Don Poffenroth both had a background in the industrial food business, but initially didn’t want to start out at a large scale, especially since they were the first distillery to open in Washington State since Prohibition.

Not wanting to be beholden to outside investors, they borrowed from themselves, or rather their retirement accounts. (This did cause Don’s wife to ask if he was high when he first proposed this.) They have been innovators in the craft distilling space since their start in 2007 with ‘bottling parties’ and a distilling school. Since we last wrote to you all, Kent has departed (with his 401K made whole) and Don and a few new co-owners have greatly expanded the business. They have opened a new distillery in downtown Spokane and their capacity has expanded from a maximum of 30,000 gallons to a potential 250,000 gallons each year. The new whiskies are still years away from their date with the bottling line, so this barrel is a product of those early years at the distillery. The joy of sourcing from these craft distilleries is the depth of information that they are eager to share. This is a wheat whiskey which is made up of 100% Soft White Winter Wheat from the Wisota Farm in Oaksdale, Washington. At the distillery it was first fermented over a ten day period before being run through the distillery’s pot still. It exited the still after the second distillation at 60% ABV before being moved into a #3 Charred new American Oak barrel from Independent Stave. Michael Kennel, D&M