— from Charles West for Orcas Island Distillery —
Orcas Island Distillery’s West Island Whiskey was judged American Single Malt Whiskey Best in Category at the 15th Annual Judging of Craft Spirits.
The whiskey, released in 2018, received both the Best in Category award and a gold medal in this year’s competition. Orcas Island Distillery continued the winning streak with another Best in Category for its Apple Brandy Eau de Vie, a title it has held every year since the apple brandy was first released in 2016.
“This was a great surprise to us,” said Charles West, Orcas Distiller. “We knew the competition would be intense in the whiskey category and, as a very small producer, we hesitated to enter. We’ve known for years that the unique apple varietals found on Orcas make a great specialty spirit, but winning best American Single Malt blew us away. Perhaps it’s our old-world way of working that contributes to the unique flavors of our spirits.”
Both awards from the judging were presented at the 2019 American Distilling Institute Conference in Denver. While the Judging of Craft Spirits is the oldest competition dedicated to craft spirits, the distilleries represented are by no means small. Craft is defined as distilleries that produce less than 100,000 gallons of spirits a year. The competition attracts as many as 300 distilleries representing more than 40 states and 18 countries. Over 1800 hundred distillers and industry representatives attended this year’s conference.
As a craft farm distillery, Orcas Island Distillery is intimately connected to the agricultural history of the San Juan Islands. Fruit is hand-picked from the island’s historic orchards and offer flavor profiles unavailable in modern commercial orchards. The whiskey is made from locally sourced, organic grain and distilled in very small batches. All of the distillery’s fruit and grains are grown within the two neighboring counties of the distillery.
Orcas Island Distillery is a small craft farm distillery, founded in 2014. We specialize in resurrecting delightful spirits whose flavors have been largely lost to the American palate. We welcome visitors by appointment.
Blind tasted it last year, among a dozen others, including a number of prominent Scotch samples, and it was my #1 pick. Loved it. Butter!