Woodinville Cask Strength Bourbon Whiskey Review

I reviewed the regular Woodinville Bourbon a while ago, it was ok, but today we’re taking it up to 11 with the Woodinville Cask Strength Bourbon Whiskey. Not only is this full cask strength, NCF and all that jazz, but apparently this is also 1 year older than the regular release I tried back in 2018.

And this is something that I’ve been grappling with a bit lately: How to talk about craft distilleries whose product really is a work in progress. The perfect example is Wyoming Whiskey which started out terrible. The WW Batch 18 was just plain not good, but fast forward to batch 37 and the whiskey is quite tasty.

It’s been over 2 years and so maybe it’s time to revisit the core bourbon and rye and see how they’re doing. But in the meantime, we have two recent cask strength bottles to get to, so buckle in.

Woodinville Cask Strength Bourbon Whiskey – Details and Tasting Notes

Whiskey Details

Region: Washington, USA

Distiller: Woodinville
Mash Bill: 72% Corn, 22% Rye, 6 % Barley
Cask: New Charred Oak and Used Oak
Age: 5 Years
ABV: 61.06%

Cask Strength | Non-Chill Filtered | Natural Color

Price: $70

Tasting Notes

EYE
Dark amber

NOSE
Dark fruit, oak, spice, cocoa, leather, twizzlers, olde candy and some chalky vanilla and dried mango.

PALATE
Woody oak, fruit, leather, cocoa powder, nuts, spice, olde candy, toffee, herbal, grainy, chalky.
Warmer than reg and nuttier

FINISH
Med-Long -> woody oak, and vanilla frosting fades to chalk

BALANCE, BODY and FEEL
Ok balance, medium-full body and a lightly oily feel

Woodinville Cask Strength Bourbon Whiskey – Overall
Aroma is fairly on par with the regular release except there’s very little of that woody-crafty profile coming through, it’s there, but in the back and more of the dark spice, fruit and sweets notes are coming through; Palate follows suite and is warmer and richer than the standard with a more complex sweets array and, again, the craft note hiding out in the back; Finish shows the most similarity with the old standard release with that woody-craft note makes a noticeable showing.

This shows the promise of what Woodinville can become, and that promise is tasty. Seems like it still needs more time for wood and spirit to fully integrate and morph that raw woodiness into rich oakiness, but it’s getting there.

Woodinville Cask Strength Bourbon Whiskey – Final Thoughts and Score

On the whole, it’s a marked improvement over the regular release I had a while ago. This is bold and interesting and a touch of water opens it nicely, but ya gotta be careful because the richness dissipates quickly. It seems to be a whiskey that’s very finicky when it comes to water and breaks down more quickly than say a Booker’s.

When it comes to their lineup, the Woodinville Cask Strength Bourbon Whiskey is the one I’d most likely suggest to someone and it’s also the one I’d most likely buy for myself. It’s an interesting whiskey and definitely has a unique profile that stands apart in the bourbon world.

SCORE: 3.5/5

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