Tasting notes

nose

orange and vanilla sponge cake, fresh-baked bread and flowers, with soft grain, peaches and cream, a light touch of oak and caramel in the background

palate

orange up front, then vanilla and wheaty sweetness, young oak and pepper, with bread and floral notes toward the back

finish

medium; bready, with orange zest and peppery rye spice that lingers, turning to sharp oak and a hint of leather

Mash bill

55% corn, 45% triticale. Triticale is a hybrid of wheat and rye first bred in Scotland and Germany in the late 19th century, and here it takes the place of both small grains, bringing some of the softness of wheat and some of the spice of rye. The corn is grown by a local Hutterian settlement and the triticale by a nearby farmer, part of Dry Fly's practice of buying grain from family farms within 30 miles of the distillery.

Awards

• Silver — Whiskies of the World 2018

Why it's craft

Dry Fly Bourbon 101 was the first legal bourbon made in Washington State, and its second grain is triticale, a grain rarely seen in bourbon. Dry Fly makes it grain to glass in Spokane from corn and triticale grown on family farms within 30 miles. Founded in 2007 by Don Poffenroth, the distillery has been majority owned since August 2024 by Caymus Vineyards, the Wagner family's Napa Valley winery.