Tasting notes

nose

Cherry cobbler and maraschino cherry over vanilla, honey and allspice, with a faint curl of wood smoke and fresh oak

palate

Creamy cherry pie and currants open up, then cherrywood smoke steps forward with allspice, nutmeg and ginger, backed by caramel cola, brown sugar and cocoa powder

finish

Medium in length; root beer, black pepper and allspice hold alongside cherry and cocoa, fading into soft wood smoke and slightly ashy oak

Mash bill

Corn, rye and cherrywood-smoked malted barley; the current split is not published. The barley is smoked over cherrywood at the distillery before mashing, which brings a light, fruity wood smoke instead of the medicinal edge of peat. Corn supplies the sweet base and rye adds spice, and the distillery draws its grain from within about 100 miles of Rohnert Park.

Why it's craft

Sonoma Distilling Co. was founded in 2010 by whiskeymaker Adam Spiegel in Rohnert Park, and its team mashes, ferments and double distills on copper pot stills on site, using grain grown within about 100 miles. For this bourbon they smoke their own malted barley over cherrywood before it goes into the mash. The smoke comes from fruit wood rather than peat, so it reads as a light, sweet wood smoke behind the corn.