OOLA Waitsburg Whiskey Bourbon Review & Tasting Notes

 

Distillers are a unique lot. Some have formal educations or had apprenticed under a skilled Master Distiller. Others come into the business from way, way out of left field.

 

Meet Kirby Kallas-Lewis, the owner and head distiller at OOLA Distillery in Seattle, Washington. Raised in St. Paul, Minnesota, Kirby studied at St. Olaf University and earned his Sculpting and Fine Art degree. He had an idea: to live on $1.00 a day. To accomplish that, Kirby became a kind of sort of farmer. He built a chicken coop and wound up sleeping in it. Kirby made cheese from goats, which he milked, and grew vegetables. He worked in a kitchen and baked bread. He made and sold clay pots.

 

Once he graduated, he hitchhiked from Minnesota to Alaska to work on fishing boats. He made some money, ditched the fishing gig, and bought a one-way ticket to Australia, where he resumed making clay pots. Then he wound up in Tahiti for a bit, where he painted, and then he canoed through Papua New Guinea and Irian Jana.

 

In 2008, he bought a still and kept it in his bathtub. In 2010, he opened OOLA Distillery, named for one of his German Shepherds, the oldest working distillery in Seattle. OOLA produces vodkas, gins, brandies, and whiskeys. Of everything, Kirby is most intrigued with barrel aging his spirits.

 

Today, I’m exploring OOLA Waitsburg Whiskey. When researching OOLA Distillery, I noticed that Waitsburg Whiskey used to have batch numbers. Initially, this was sourced distillate. Then, it became a blend of sourced and in-house distillates. Today, everything is distilled on the premises. The grains used are all locally sourced.

 

The other thing that caught my attention was that Waitsburg Whiskey used to have batch numbers. That’s no longer the case, or at least it isn’t marked beyond “Small Batch” on my bottle.

 

 

 

Waitsburg Whiskey carries no age statement; however, per the distillery, it rested between six and eight years in new, 53-gallon charred oak barrels. Bottled at 47% ABV (94°), a 750ml package retails for about $46.00.

 

How does this Bourbon taste? The only way to answer that question is to #DrinkCurious. First, I must take a moment to thank OOLA Distillery for providing me with a sample in exchange for my no-strings-attached, honest review.

 

Appearance: I poured this into my Glencairn glass to explore neat. It was the color of caramel and formed a thin rim that produced thick, straight, fast tears.

 

Nose: The soft aroma included smells of caramel, corn, raw almonds, and apple sauce. It had a blanched almond flavor when I pulled the air into my mouth.

 

Palate: The Bourbon’s texture was creamy and had a medium weight. The nosing was so soft that identifying notes was challenging, but that wasn’t the case with the tasting portion. The front of my palate encountered field corn and cashews. I tasted oak and juniper at my mid-palate. Clove, tobacco leaf, and cinnamon made up the back.  

 

Finish: Waitsburg Whiskey’s finish started slow and increased in speed and intensity. It began with caramel and tobacco, then oak spice, cinnamon, and black pepper hit a crescendo at 2:20 before falling off, making for a long duration.

 

Bottle, Bar, or Bust: It isn’t often that a 94° whiskey could leave my hard palate sizzling, but Waitsburg Whiskey did. Even the tip of my tongue tingled. It didn’t drink hot, but that spicy finish did the trick. The palate and finish were bold; the nose was muted. What this Bourbon lacked was any depth. The flavors seemed to be “just there,” which can be discouraging. I can see potential, but I’m unsure what OOLA can do to add that needed depth to bring this whiskey up from my Bar rating.   

 

My Simple, Easy-to-Understand Rating System

• Bottle = Buy It
• Bar = Try It
• Bust = Leave It

 

Whiskeyfellow encourages you to enjoy your whiskey as you see fit but begs you to do so responsibly.