Wanderback Whiskey Batch No.2
Not every whiskey is created equally. Some whiskey is rushed, where marketing is more the focus rather than the quality of the product. A lot goes into the final whiskey you taste coming out of a bottle. The ingredients that make up the mashbill, the quality of water, the barometric pressure, the type of wood selected to make the barrel, and ultimately how long the whiskey ages. Just as important as the methods and process that go into making a whiskey, is the enjoying of whiskey; which in my opinion should be with friends and maybe family...only maybe.
When Wanderback distillery reached out to me to see if I would be interested in tasting and reviewing their whiskey, I didn’t hesitate, especially since they’re located in Hood River, Oregon; almost in my backyard of Seattle. Once I had the whiskey I headed over to my buddy’s house, grabbed two glasses and began to pour. I set my camera up to take some photos of us drinking, but unfortunately the photos were nothing special and kind of sucked. However, we had a nice new whiskey to try that would make up for a bad photo session.
What stood out on this whiskey, as it hit the glass, was the amber red color, which I’ve grown to love as it’s usually indicative of a caramel flavor. Nosing the whiskey, I immediately got a vanilla scent, followed by pecan and chocolate; Mind you those are the smells I got, which may be different from yours. I expected to taste what I smelled, but surprisingly got something else. I took a long sip and chewed. As I let the whiskey run down my throat, I started tasting marshmallows, cotton candy and vanilla. Not often do I go into a whiskey tasting thinking I’m going to taste marshmallows! The finish had a nice long but subtle feel. I was still tasting the cotton candy for several minutes after the first sip.
So, on a rainy Friday night at 9:30pm in Seattle my friend and I tasted Wanderback Distillery’s Batch No.2 and it was thoroughly enjoyed. So much so that I’m writing about it. What was neat to learn about this whiskey is that Wanderback partnered with Westland Distillery in Seattle to distill their recipe. Once distilled, the distillate headed on down to Wanderback’s family farm in Hood River and spent the next 4 years in New American Oak. Lots of cold nights and hot days. After the 4 years had come and gone, half went into Nicaraguan ex-rum casks and the other half into Heaven Hills ex-bourbon barrels for 6 months each, then the whiskey was blended back together and bottled.
I think what’s appealing about Wanderback is what they’re putting in their bottles, really is limited edition. It’s not a marketing ploy to get you to buy their whiskey. Since they work with many other distillers, carefully source their ingredients (soon to include barley from their farm), not rushing the ageing process and use a variety of different barrels, each new “Batch” coming out of their distillery is going to be quite a bit different on the nose and palate and a bottle worth sharing and holding onto.
Well folks, that’s it for this review. I appreciate you reading this far. My final thought for you is this, you may have your go to whiskey and don’t like to deviate, but Wanderback deserves your attention and a place on your shelf.
Go pick up a bottle, you’ll be glad you did.
