Dry Fly Washington Wheat Review


Picture from "The Manual"

“Bread and Butter”
Country: USA
Brand: Dry Fly Washington Wheat Batch #41
Type: American Whiskey - 100% Wheat 
Age: NAS (Said To Be: At Least 2 Years)
ABV: 40%
Sample provided by Derek from the USA. Many Thanks!

Colour: Light Golden Amber

Nose: Light but interesting. Different from your usual Bourbon Nose. I find Sweet Grain, Puff Pastry prepared with full Cream Butter, Butterscotch, Toffee, Nectarine, Orange, Banana, Coconut, Syrup, light Vanilla, Hay, lightly Charred New Oak, light Varnish and light Mint. The Alcohol is not fully integrated.

Taste: On the Palate, the short Wood contact and the low ABV start to tell their limited stories. It's not as "neutral" as Gin or Vodka but it doesn't present us with a lot of Flavour as well. You can compare it with some of the younger Whiskies from say France, Belgium or the Alpine countries. With some effort I find Bread and Yeast tones, Wheat Biscuits, light Licorice, Pepper, Orange Peel, Toffee, Nuts, Young Oak and Menthol. The Alcohol is quite present. 



Finish: Middle-Long with Lightly Charred Oak, Toffee, Pepper, Cinnamon, Grass, Menthol and Alcohol. Still, the Finish does invite you to have another sip!  

With a bit of Water you will find more Bread, Biscuits and Dried Fruits on the Nose. But on the Palate it becomes more of a Spicy Fruit-Flavoured Vodka. The Finish gets a bit more Citrus, Toffee and Vanilla. You can certainly experiment with a few drops.

Rating: 80 

Nose: 21.5 – Taste: 18.5 – Finish: 20 – Overall: 20

Derek's Bottle and the Sample!

General Remarks: Dry Fly is a craft distillery located just outside Spokane in the state of Washington. It was founded in 2007 and is owned and operated by 2 fly- fishing pals, Kent Fleischmann & Don Poffenroth. The Christian Carl Pot Stills from Goppingen Germany produce Gin, Whiskey, Vodka and Bourbon. The total current annual output is small at around 150.000 bottles. The Soft Winter Wheat is bought from small local sustainable producers. Dry Fly Wheat matured for around 2 years in new Medium-Charred American White Oak Casks from the Bluegrass Cooperage in Tennessee. It's mostly available in the native State for the time being and costs around 50 US Dollars.

Drinking Experience Neat: Okay/Good

Conclusion: Does anyone remember the Hit Single "Bread and Butter" released by the American group the Newbeats in 1964. It went all the way to # 2 in the Billboard Top 100. I had to think of this song when Nosing and Tasting the Dry Fly Washington Wheat. Bread, Dough, Wheat Biscuits, Butter, Butterscotch and Toffee are all over the place, especially on the light but pleasant Nose. 2 Years however is not enough to extricate lots of Flavours from the Cask and the low ABV does not help out either. The Finish is not overly long but effective. All in all an interesting experiment that has my full support. I would love to Nose and Taste a 6 Year old Dry Fly Washington Wheat with an ABV of around 46%. I do hope Fleischmann & Poffenroth will get to this stage. Good Luck! 

Jan van den Ende                                                            October 21, 2014

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