OOLA was founded in 2010 by owner and master distiller Kirby Kallas-Lewis in the Capitol Hill neighborhood of Seattle, Washington. They remain small but have won several awards for their various gins and vodkas. They also produce whiskey and their Whiskey Discourse series is designed to combine different whiskies to see how they interact under different influences. Other entries experiment with smoke and cask finishes. OOLA Three Shores is included in our All-Canada World Whisky Day by reason that it is made up of one part OOLA Waitsburg Bourbon, one part unknown scotch from the Highland region, and one part Canadian rye. So part of it’s still Canadian! They are sourced separately but aged together for at least a year in American Oak.
Arran Amarone Cask
It should be no surprise to our frequent readers that we’ve tried our fair share of whiskies with different finishes. Finishing allows distilleries to impart a different set of flavors through aging the spirit in casks other than the usual ex-bourbon barrels. We’ve tried finishes with Sherry, Port, Rum, along with Shiraz, Madeira and Burgundy wines so far. We have a scotch with Cote du Rhone and Clos de Tart on the docket. Heck, the last Arran we reviewed had a Sauternes finish. Therefore, it may not surprise anyone greatly for us to be interested by this Arran aged in Amarone casks. We came by it honestly, though, through a tasting at Ace Spirit’s. The fact that the Arran Amarone stood out over several other whiskies should be enough to pique your interest, as it did ours.