The Tasting Panel magazine

A Washington State BAINBRIDGE DISTILLERS RE-CREATES HISTORY WITH BATTLE POINT ORGANIC WHISKEY A small island in Washington's Puget Sound, Bainbridge Island was once a hiding spot for whiskey lovers. In the 1850s through 1880s, the island was a refuge, of sorts, for workers of the large Port Madison Lumber Mill, where boss man Meigs looked down upon drinkers. A teetotaler, Meigs did not like his men drinking on the mill's prop- erty. That's why they went to the island's saloon, Whiskey 40, to kick back the harsh, biting local whiskies. Washington's whiskey history is relatively untold. Almost all of the state's whis- key production took place off the books, and in places like Bainbridge Island, because it was a 30-minute ferry ride from the cops. And that car- ried on through Prohibition, says Keith Barnes, founder of Bainbridge Organic Distillers. One person profi ting from Prohibition was Barnes's grandfather, William Dettman, who ran whiskey across the Straits of Juan de Fuca, from Vancouver Island to Washington's Dungeness Spit. (Today, Bainbridge procures rye from fi elds in the Dungeness River delta.) "He actually met my grandmother at a dance in nearby Port Townsend while making a delivery," Barnes says. Tasting Notes This wheat whiskey is sweet with notes of fudge, spearmint, caramel and toffee. It's hot, but fi nishes with notes vanilla, honey and green apple. Barnes is one of the owners of Motive Marketing Group, a company specializing in spirits marketing, brand development and promotion. With whiskey running in his blood, he decided to start his own distillery with his son Patrick. "I have been supporting other people's products for all these years, and I fi gured if my own brand gets screwed up, I have nobody else to blame," Barnes says. But Washington craft distillers could not legally make alcohol until 2008, when the 28 / the tasting panel / january/february 2012 Revival state created legislation for craft distilla- tion. According to Washington statutes, craft distillers must use at least 51 percent Washington grains, crops or fruits to make the alcohol. One hundred percent of the wheat for Bainbridge Battle Point Organic Whiskey comes from small-scale Washington Keith Barnes and his son Patrick. farmers who use only organic practices, meaning no pesticides or herbicides are used. Furthermore, the wheat is not geneti- cally modifi ed. That means the farmers have fewer seed selections than large-scale commercial farmers and they must farm the old-fashioned way. It is moderately more expensive, too. "It's like we're in a time warp with organic practices," Barnes says. "We're using the same production methods that they did in the 1950s." His whiskey is aged 16 months in ten-gallon barrels made at Gibbs Brothers Cooperage in Hot Springs, Arkansas. It is 86 proof and only available in Washington at the moment (at $45 SPR). But the Barneses will have it in a saloon near you soon enough. If you can get your hands on it, you'll taste one of the best organic wheat whiskies from a craft distiller.

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