Still blending whiskey and brandy it looks like, what is the age on each, wood, etc…
Thanks Jim.
Lightning Barley (bottled 2026)
This is the first bottling of Lightning Barley from the original distillation done in early 2022.
Farm and Grain: This is a barley that is essentially brand new to the world. This was developed by Oregon State University’s Barley World program. This on-going program is seeking to advance the knowledge of strains of barley that are healthier, stronger and more viable in a world facing the realties of significant climate change. Lightning Barley was developed to be a two-row winter barley with the additional benefit of being free of Glysodic Nitriles (GNs) which produce carcinogenic compounds when malted for distilling. Lightning and its kindred barley, Thunder (also developed by and at Oregon State), are the only two known winter barleys that are free of the GNs. This barley is so new it is still in the testing phase and we acquired the malted barley through the Local Inland Northwest Cooperative Malt (LINC Malt) organization that had grown this in the Spokane area of eastern Washington.
Barrel Aging: This was aged for just under 4 years in four re-purposed Pinot Noir barrels and a single barrel of Oregon oak. We are specifically NOT doing the thing that’s quite trendy now to finish sprits in a wine barrel (or, god forbid, the other way around). These barrels have the heads removed and then are sanded down to remove all traces of wine. Wine only penetrates about 3\8th inch into oak staves so this is quite possible. The barrel is then re-toasted to wine barrel specifications. It is then charred to whiskey barrel levels. Three of the four re-purposed barrels of this whiskey were in were #2 char and one was a #3 char and the Oregon oak was a #2 char. Because of the intensity of the flavor of the grain, the use of only the apex material in the distillation, the textural component the brandy brings to the whiskey and the quality of the distillation (and distiller) this whiskey showed remarkable character and complexity at just 4 years in barrel which is why we decided to bottle it at that point.
Blend: This is 83% Lightning Barley distillate mixed with 17% of the Pinot Noir Brandy. It went into barrel at 121 proof.
Water and Proofing: We used reverse osmosis filtered water for the Lightning Barley Whiskey. Reverse osmosis filtered water is highly purified but has much better flavors than, say, distilled water which would be slightly more pure but less “water flavored.” Also, reverse osmosis filtered water is “stickier” at the molecular level so it binds to the molecules in the whiskey so as to not evaporate in bottle (creating the condensation you sometimes see in the necks of liquor bottles). We used a little over 55 gallons of this water to proof the whiskey to an ABV of 50.
Production: Only 125 cases of this were bottled.
Purple Karma Barley (bottled 2026)
This is the second bottling from the original Purple Karma Barley distillation done in 2021. The initial bottling was called Pinnalce and was from a small portion of the distillation that was carved out of the center of the hearts cut, separated and barreled down into 2 partially full re-purposed barrels. These remaining three barrels were left to age for another couple of years to further deepen the flavor profile and texture.
Farm and Grain: This was grown on a small, organic farm owned and operated by Lyle Spiesschaert, slightly northwest of the town of Forest Grove. Purple Karma barley is an ancient Himalayan landrace variety (and it is literally purple). The term “landrace” has generally been defined as a cultivated, genetically heterogeneous variety that has evolved in a certain ecogeographical area and is therefore adapted to the edaphic and climatic conditions and to its traditional management and uses. Despite being considered by many to be inalterable, landraces have been and are in a constant state of evolution as a result of natural and artificial selection. Many landraces have disappeared from cultivation but are preserved in gene banks. Using modern selection and breeding technology tools to shape these preserved landraces together with the ones that are still cultivated is a further step in their evolution in order to preserve their agricultural significance. Adapting historical landraces to present agricultural conditions using cutting-edge breeding technology represents a challenging opportunity to use them in a modern sustainable agriculture, as an immediate return on the investment is highly unlikely, revived by the Oregon State Barley Project. This is an excellent example of attempting to show something hyper-local as Purple Karma Barley is currently only grown in Oregon and does not see much in the way of commercial use of any kind. It is renowned for being dense in texture and hearty in flavor.
Barrel Aging: This was aged for just under 5 years in two re-purposed Pinot Noir barrels and a single barrel of Oregon oak. We are specifically NOT doing the thing that’s quite trendy now to finish sprits in a wine barrel (or, god forbid, the other way around). These barrels have the heads removed and then are sanded down to remove all traces of wine. Wine only penetrates about 3\8th inch into oak staves so this is quite possible. The barrel is then re-toasted to wine barrel specifications. It is then charred to whiskey barrel levels. The two re-purposed barrels of this whiskey were in were #2 char and the Oregon oak was a #3 char. Because of the intensity of the flavor of the grain, the use of only the apex material in the distillation, the textural component the brandy brings to the whiskey and the quality of the distillation (and distiller) this whiskey showed remarkable character and complexity at just short of 5 years in barrel which is why we decided to bottle it at that point.
Blend: This is 80% Purple Karma grain distillate mixed with 20% of the Pinot Noir Brandy. It went into barrel at 122 proof.
Water and Proofing: We decided to make this as much about Oregon and what is known as the Tualatin Hills AVA in the wine world. Instead of using filtered city water we ventured out about 20 miles northwest of Forest Grove on Highway 26 where there exists a truly unique and Oregon phenomenon; up in the Coast Range Mountains are two roadside faucets referred to as Sunset Spring Water Station that sources the water from a natural, cold, filtered mountain spring. We used a little over 30 gallons of this crystal clear and pure water to proof the whiskey to an ABV of 50.
Production: Only 75 cases of this were bottled.
You know are welcome here in Yucatán. Feel free to avail yourself of customs allowing four bottles on your person in checked luggage.
I’ll gladly pay local fees. Got your pesos right here.
That would imply a vacation! What’s that???
Maybe you should start a micro-importer and then it will be a business trip.
Yoink! Do it, doc!
your whiskeys aren’t available on the website any longer?
Will Vin in Chicago get any?
I need to reach out to Mike Baker and see where they’re at. Love for them to re-up into stuff. I should tell him we’ll come and do a full on tasting to support the buy. Stay tuned.
Thanks!
Oooh! Let us know if you’re in town.
Email sent to Mike!!