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Bourbon Review: OOLA Cask Strength Waitsburg Bourbon

We review OOLA Cask Strength Waitsburg Bourbon, a four-grain bourbon made in Seattle, Washington.

OVERALL RATING

9
$70.00
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Tasting Notes

About:

The subject of this review, batch number one of a limited release of Waitsburg Bourbon at cask strength, clocks in at 118 proof and lacks an age statement. As mentioned above, the mash bill includes locally sourced corn, rye, wheat, and barley. In addition, OOLA implements a two-stage barrel maturation process in which the bourbon initially ages in 10 gallon barrels, and, after a certain amount of time, the bourbon is stored in 53 gallon barrels. For the cask strength release, OOLA bottles Waitsburg Bourbon without chill-filtration. Based on some online shopping, it appears that a bottle retails in the neighborhood of $70.
Appearance:
Nose:
Sweet notes of cracked corn and vanilla dominate the aroma. However, due to the rye grain in the mash bill, and perhaps the small format barrel usage, some very light scents of oak and baking spices layer underneath. Appearance: For a non-age stated, and presumably rather young bourbon, the small format barrels certainly helped with the color, as the bourbon appears a medium-copper brown in the glass.
Palate:
For a cask strength offering, surprisingly soft sweet notes of corn, vanilla, and toffee lead off the front of the palate. In the mid palate, seasoned oak and spice notes begin to overtake the sweet notes and the overall flavor strength picks up significantly. For the finish, seasoned oak, vanilla, and baking spices balance, with the seasoned oak winning out and creating a medium duration dry finish.
Finish:
Comments:
In my experience, aging whiskey in small format barrels often leads to unbalanced and bitter results. However, by aging Waitsburg Bourbon first in small format barrels then moving the bourbon to standard barrels, OOLA avoided many of the downsides to small format barrel aging while reaping many of the rewards. The resulting bourbon strikes a nice balance in seasoned oak and spice notes with the sweeter notes that often get drowned out in small format barrel aged bourbon. rnrnFor me, OOLA’s cask strength offering easily tops the list of best craft bourbons I have had in recent memory. Overall, the cask strength bottling of Waitsburg Bourbon is worth seeking out by any craft whiskey drinker.

Editor’s Note: This whiskey was either bought as a sample by The Whiskey Wash or provided to us as a review sample by the party behind it. Per our editorial policies, this in no way influenced the outcome of this review.

Jordan Morris

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