Tasting notes

nose

Brandied cherry and dried fig with cherry-tinged pipe tobacco, toasted almond and a quiet thread of baking spice

palate

Spice and sweetness arrive together as allspice, clove and nutmeg over caramel, almond oil and dried fruit, with pipe tobacco and new leather building toward the back

finish

Medium-long; allspice, clove and ripe cherry linger with a twist of orange peel, then dry out toward leather and damp oak

Mash bill

Rye, wheat and cherrywood-smoked malted barley; the current split is not published. Rye leads the recipe for spice, while a share of wheat softens the texture. The barley is smoked over cherrywood at the distillery, adding a light fruit-wood smoke and dried-cherry tone, and the grain comes 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 everything is mashed, fermented and double distilled on copper pot stills on site from grain grown within about 100 miles. This rye carries barley the team smokes over cherrywood themselves, plus a share of wheat to soften it. It rests at least four years before release.