Featured at World Whisky Day 2019: Copperworks Distilling was founded in 2008 by Jason Parker and Micah Nutt in Seattle, both of whom have a background in brewing. The first number of years were spent learning about various elements of the craft spirits distilling via their work with gin and vodka, which they then used to inform their whiskey production. They are currently releasing their whiskey in individual batches, wherein each release has its own personality. Eventually the goal is to use this variety – along with the time to continually create and lay down stock – to hone in on a flagship release with core profile. They are active in the broader whiskey community in the United States and are at the forefront of regulatory standardization through their membership in several trade groups. The Copperworks American Single Malt reviewed here was mostly comprised of their five malt recipe (85%) with the remainder comprised of their pale malt recipe, aged for 33 and 30 months respectively in barrels using a lighter char. They certainly love their transparency.
Distillery: Copperworks
Region: Foreign
Age: NAS
Strength: 51%
Price: $67.78
Maturation: New American Oak
Barrel: Release No. 13; Bottle 1682 of 1740.
Location: Seattle, WA
Nose: Root beer, cream soda, vanilla, orange zest, orange peel, cooked raisins
Palate: Spice, grain, salt, butter
Finish: Cinnamon
Comments: This one really benefits from letting it breathe in the glass a bit, or even using a high ball instead of a Glencairn. Also, be sure to check out our interview with Copperworks co-founder Jason Parker from 2018.
Adam – What a ride this whiskey has been. In the fall of 2017, I had the opportunity to taste Batch 01 of the Copperworks American Single Malt and was put off by how young and hot it was. A year later, I was persuaded to try this most recent batch and was very impressed by how much progress had been made in what seemed so short a time. I happily snagged a bottle but was disappointed when I tasted it several months later and was let down from the taste I’d remembered. What was going on here? After a few tries in spring of 2019, I left it alone for some time, wondering how my taste buds had led me wrong. It wasn’t until the following autumn that I dragged it out again on a whim and was rewarded with the whiskey I remembered, a dry butter malt replete with some rich cream soda and dried fruit on the nose and a crackling cinnamon on the nose. Apparently, so the lesson goes, some whiskies can be quite sensitive to the seasons. I’ve seen it happen with other whiskies but never to this degree. I’m both happy at how far Copperworks has come in 13 batches and can’t wait to check out more, as they have almost double the number of batches at time of press. Even though Batch 13 is young, I’m impressed by all that is going on in the layers of flavor and smell, delicate though the whole structure might be. On a night of multiple whiskies I would push this first. It might go exceptionally well paired with the right food.
There’s a smell that reminds you of baryani.
Jenny – Fall spices on the nose. I could have some pumpkin pie with this and perhaps could be nice right before Thanksgiving dinner. Yes, the fall spices are strong, with a whipped cream sense to it.
Meghan – A post of two seasons. When I first tasted this in the summer, it was terrible. I don’t know if I had a touch of sinus issues or it was the weather plus whiskey but the main nose I got was chlorine. Like heavily laced indoor pool chlorine. I then got about the same thing on the palate: pool. I actually had to dump this one out at first. But, when re-tasting at the end of November, it seemed better. I still find the nose rather antiseptic but there is a touch of orange and baked fruit. The nose is like a kitchen that someone baked pie in during the day but has now been scrubbed clean: cleaning products with an overtone of pie. The palate also has that medicinal/antiseptic quality. It is actually something that shows up in some Islay scotches but then the peat usually distracts from it. I think this Copperworks American Single Malt messes a bit with my head in that I get a flavor I associate with scotch but not the other peated scotch aspects. There is a sweet sourness to the palate, like an unripe peach. I do like the spices on the finish, there’s a nice cinnamon candy burn. I think there is potential in this whisky but Batch 13 isn’t going to convince me to buy a second bottle untasted.
Cleaning products with an overtone of pie.
Michael – I’m really enjoying it. It reminds me of fall baked goods, specifically apple and pumpkin pie. It has that breaded quality, with a little bit of fruit sweetness. Not a creaminess but a buttery quality. The elements play off one another perfectly and are not too intense. Very easy to enjoy. You can focus on it or just sit back and sip it. Now that I think more on it, the sweetness is less like fruit within a pie and more like the glaze of sugar on top of one.
Peter – I’m not a fan. I can’t get past the cleaning supply sense. There’s a sourness to it I don’t like.
Mary-Fred – This would be very nice in a cocktail. Several months after the first taste, I like this now. I’m getting bitter orange throughout, but in a good way.
Caitlin – The Copperworks American Single Malt is a dive bar, where the E in Abe Lincoln is flickering, and a toothless guy is out front chain-smoking. The end of the day at the street fair.
Ben – If this were a planet, it would be missing its mantle. It has a crust but is hollow in the middle, a M&M with no chocolate. Like a grange that’s just been emptied but you can still smell the sweetness of the grain. There’s a smell that reminds you of baryani.
