Woodinville Whiskey Co

Woodinville Whiskey Co. built its reputation on a promise that is rare in American whiskey: everything happens in-house, from milling the grain to bottling the final barrel. Founded in 2010 in Woodinville, Washington, the distillery has never sourced whiskey from another producer, a claim it states explicitly and one that separates it from many of the "craft" labels that filled liquor store shelves during the bourbon boom of the 2010s.

History & Heritage

Orlin Sorensen and Brett Carlile founded Woodinville Whiskey Co. in 2010, determined to build a true grain-to-glass operation in the Pacific Northwest rather than buy sourced spirit and slap on a label. Early in the company's life, they were mentored by the late Dave Pickerell, the former Master Distiller for Maker's Mark, whose guidance shaped the distillery's approach to mashing, fermentation, and barrel management.

The distillery's trajectory changed in 2017, when Moët Hennessy, the wines and spirits division of LVMH and the company behind Glenmorangie and Ardbeg, acquired Woodinville Whiskey Co. It was Moët Hennessy's first entry into American whiskey. Sorensen and Carlile stayed on to oversee day-to-day operations after the sale, and the distillery has continued to expand its release lineup and production capacity in the years since. As of July 2026, Woodinville Whiskey Co. is owned by Moët Hennessy, part of LVMH.

The Whiskey

Every kernel of grain that goes into Woodinville's mash bill is milled on-site, daily, into fine flour. The corn, rye, and malted barley are all non-GMO and sourced from the Omlin Family Farm in Quincy, Washington, roughly 150 miles east of the distillery. Mashing uses purified water drawn from the Cascade Mountains, and fermentation runs for four days in eight 9,000-gallon fermenters, a small-batch, temperature-controlled process the distillery credits for the consistency of its whiskey.

Distillation takes place in handmade, custom-designed 1,320-gallon German copper pot stills, producing roughly seven barrels of new-make whiskey per day. Before filling, barrels are seasoned outdoors for 18 to 24 months, left to endure Washington's full range of weather, which softens the wood's tannins ahead of a slow toast and deep char. The filled barrels are then trucked back to Quincy for aging in warehouses on the same farm that grows the grain. Quincy's climate, hot summers giving way to cold winters, drives extreme temperature swings inside the warehouses that push whiskey deep into the wood and pull out flavor faster than a more temperate climate would allow. Woodinville ages its whiskey at least five years before release.

The core lineup centers on Woodinville Straight Bourbon and Woodinville Straight Rye, both flagship expressions built on the grain-to-glass process described above. The distillery has also released cask-finished variations, including Woodinville Whiskey Port Finished Bourbon (also labeled Woodinville Straight Bourbon Finished in Port Casks), which extends the standard mash bill through additional time in port casks for added depth.

Why It Matters

Woodinville's insistence on controlling every stage of production, rather than sourcing whiskey and rebranding it, has earned it a distinct place among American craft distilleries. The American Distilling Institute named it Craft Whiskey of the Year in 2016 and Craft Rye Whiskey of the Year in 2017. Woodinville Straight Bourbon won Best Straight Bourbon Whiskey of 2020 along with a Double Gold Medal at the San Francisco World Spirits Competition, and the distillery's Aged 8 Years bourbon repeated the Double Gold at the 2024 San Francisco World Spirits Competition, adding a Double Platinum from the American Spirits Council of Tasters Awards. Robb Report named the Aged 6 Years bourbon one of the 50 Greatest Whiskeys of the 21st Century, and its Port Finish expression made Robb Report's list of the 10 Best Bourbon Bottles Made Outside of Kentucky. More recently, Woodinville Straight Bourbon appeared in Newsweek's 10 Best Bourbons of 2026, Wine Enthusiast's Best Bourbons of 2025 and Top 100 Spirits of the Year, and the Straight Bourbon Finished in Port Barrels took Silver at the 2025 World Whiskies Awards. That the whiskey continued winning awards after the Moët Hennessy acquisition suggests the LVMH ownership has not diluted the grain-to-glass standard the founders set in 2010.

Visiting the Distillery

The Woodinville tasting room is open daily from 11:00 am to 6:00 pm for walk-in tastings, with guided distillery tours available by reservation and typically lasting 45 minutes. Visitors must be 21 or older with valid ID. The Quincy production facility, where the whiskey ages, also offers tastings and tours, but by reservation only.