Editor’s Note: This whiskey was provided to us as a review sample by the party behind it. This in no way, per our editorial policies, influenced the final outcome of this review. It should also be noted that by clicking the buy link in this review our site receives a small referral payment which helps to support, but not influence, our editorial and other costs.
Wait-lists, bespoke packaging, and allocations are all the rage in the Californian luxury wine industry. It’s no surprise this has spilled over into their whiskey scene. It’s hard to tell the worthwhile brands from the wolves in Italian-wool tailoring. What is new to me is a bottle with that greasy faux-cult shine supported by a worthy liquid in the bottle.
Puns and eye-rolls aside, Wolves crafts seriously top–notch spirits, including their latest release, the Wolves Malted Barley Series Lot Two 11-Year California Single Malt.
Wolves shares head distiller Marko Karakasevic with Charbay Distillery, a highly regarded distillery in Ukiah, California. The distillery traces its history back 40 years, a long time for a craft West Coast biz. Karakasevic is a 13th generation distiller (not a typo!). His passion is beer, which is what makes his whiskeys boldly and complexly flavored.
To craft his whiskeys at Charbay, he makes or sources a complete beer first. He describes the beers as “bottle-ready.” What is fermented from the mash is typically boring or undrinkable; these would be delicious on their own. He began experimenting with distilling beer in 1999. He even teamed up with Bear Republic to distill his favorite beer, Racer 5 IPA, into Charbay R5 whiskey, not just on a whim, but after four years of research.
Points to Karakasevic, too, for preferring a sipping whiskey without the fiery burn of cask strength.
Karakasevic brings his signature good-beer-first style to Wolves, including this Wolves Malted Barley Series Lot Two 11-Year California Single Malt. Using malts imported from Ireland, Karakasevic fermented them into a California ale. The company’s press release states that distillation occurred while Karakasevic “would sequester himself” in the Yokayo Valley for ten days, sleeping in short bursts so as to tend to the process.
Yokayo is the Pomo word for Ukiah, so distillation occurred somewhere near the Charbay Distillery. Distillation occurred with Karakasevic’s preferred vessel, an alembic copper pot. This, the company states, offers “more body, flavor, and viscosity” than the continuous still common outside the craft industry.
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The whiskey was cut with water from the Russian River, which the company describes as “mineral-rich.” The final blend was a selection of nine barrels distilled in 2012. A tenth barrel from the run is being held for a later single barrel release.
The brand describes the Wolves Malted Barley Series Lot Two 11-Year California Single Malt as showing notes of “toasted oats, dried fruit, vanilla, black pepper, [and] oak” on the nose with flavors “tobacco, caramel, stone fruit, honey, [and] oats.” The finish is described as “sweet upfront with dry effect on the palate [and a] creeping salinity,” my new favorite name for a band.
I would share the company’s discussion of the label and bottle design, but it’s longer than the tasting note and bats around tedious words like “French-Cut” glass, “Italian sheepskin,” and “auto-grade vinyl.” Needless to say, the box is labeled with the words: “The price of being a sheep is boredom. The price of being a wolf is loneliness. Choose one or the other with great care.”
Baa humbug. Go tell a Bighorn ram that he’s boring.
Wolves sells through their online allocation first. To join the allocation list, visit their website. Select releases are also available through online and physical retailers.
Tasting Notes: Wolves Malted Barley Series Lot Two
Vital Stats: Aged for 11 years in new American oak, 55% ABV, mash bill: 100% malted Irish barley, SRP $305/ 750ml bottle.
Appearance: This is a moderate golden yellow in color.
Nose: This had some oddly chemical notes (methane and sulfur) when I first tasted it, so I gave the sample a day or two to off-gas. My second pour was still profoundly affected a day later, so I let it sit in the glass for a few hours. It very slowly unfurled. As I visited it over the course of a couple of hours, it developed notes of stewed apricots, fresh tangerines, and damp hay. There’s a green vegetable note like spruce tips or dried hops underneath a rich note of melted dark chocolate.
To me, the combination of dark chocolate and pine notes was a little off-putting. The yeast leaves it mark with notes of fresh baker’s yeast and fermented dark bread dough. I was happy to find that the whiskey had blown off its chemical notes. I find this frequently in American Single Malts, so do try to give them some air.
Palate: On the palate, this is decidedly smoky. I wouldn’t be surprised if the malted barley was lightly peated, but there is no reference on the company’s website. There were notes to chocolate tulle cookies, sea salt, and Rice Krispies cereal. The finished has notes of rare prime rib. It lingers, dwindling into a flavor of raked leaves and wool.
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