Sunset Magazine

2011

” Newcomers to watch” Inspired by the love of the Northwest,  ”Dry Fly embraces sustainable resources and local ingredients, all their products are flying off the shelves “

Playboy Magazine

2011

The editors comment : a London dry made in Washington State  ” Nice on the rocks, no vermouth needed”

GQ Magazine December issue

2011

Listed under the section ” Best Stuff for 2011″ comments by GQ editors: “An understated bready vodka that’s balanced but not at all boring!”

Rock & Rye

2011

Spirits Review: Dry Fly Washington Bourbon

by Dennis on Aug.09, 2011, under Bourbon, Product Reviews

Dry Fly is a distillery that seems to be bound and determined to push the envelope while still retaining the highest standards possible. Every product they have released has been distilled to a fantastic level of quality, while breaking out of the molds that most seem bound and determined to stay in. They have a vodka that is not flavorless, a gin that includes hops and apple in the botanicals, and a whiskey made from winter wheat.

This last weekend marked the Seattle release of Dry Fly’s newest product, a 101 proof Bourbon distilled from corn, unmalted wheat, and barley, and as luck would have it, I happened to be driving though Seattle right as it went on sale. Unfortunately for those who were not in Seattle or Spokane for the releases, all 480 bottles were sold within hours, and I am told that the next release is not until late next year. But, back to the bourbon.

This is not your average bourbon, perhaps having more in common with your great-great-grandpappy’s bourbon. Aged for only three years, this golden liquid is bold and in your face. The aromas are packed with spices and a faint oakiness. On the tongue, you get big sweet flavors of caramel and vanilla, the alcohol hiding in the fringes, despite the hefty proof. The flavors fade out with a long spicy finish laced with cinnamon and oak. All in all, a fantastic bourbon that will only continue to improve with age. Cheers to Don, Kent, Patrick, and the whole Dry Fly family for another fantastic product!

***Update***
Today the first bottle of Dry Fly Bourbon ever produced, sold at an eBay charity auction benefiting the Spokane chapter of Ronald McDonald House Charities for $2650!

Ethan Prater

Rating: 84/100

2010

Immaculate packaging – a squat, broad-shouldered transparent bottle with a foil cap and cork stopper. The Dry Fly logo is silk-screened, but the rest is an adhesive label (presumably this is the same bottle used for Dry Fly’s very popular gin and vodka).

I believe this whiskey is aged in fresh charred oak for two years, lending the liquid a color of clear light brown or even an attractively burnt orange. It smells sweet – that’s the wheat talking – with a tiny hint of barrel char.

The flavor is very nicely integrated – predominantly sweet vanilla, maybe some toffee and mellow mushy fruit. A very easy-drinking whiskey, though with just a touch of unexpected burn on the back of the throat (and it’s bottled only at 40% abv – helpful to squeeze more bottles out of limited production, but not to get the most flavor from this very gentle distillate). Without any other grains in the mash, you get none of the spice typical of bourbon or rye whiskey. A nicely lengthy finish, given the young age.

Dry Fly Wheat Whiskey has a very nice round flavor – it’s sweet and simple without any hidden complexity. Which is fine – this would be a good sipper on a warm afternoon or an excellent cocktail base.

I’m loath to make generalizations about 100% wheat whiskey having tried just three (Bernheim, Death’s Door, and Dry Fly), but I wonder if some corn, barley, or rye would add some needed complexity to the final spirit. The simplicity here feels a bit like tasting a component of something larger (to be fair, what I think of many single malt Scotches).

Anyway, if I gave scores, I would Dry Fly’s Whiskey (Batch Two) 84/100. Who knows what it might grow into with more time in the barrel?

Drink Spirits Review

Very Highly Recommended

Dry Fly Whiskey (80 proof) As a whole, we’re not huge fans of the current crop of young whiskeys out on the market. One to two years of age in barrel often leaves a whiskey underdeveloped and feels like putting a horse to race before it’s fully grown. Dry Fly’s Whiskey falls solidly into this ‘young’ category with only a couple years in barrel. But, for a young whiskey it’s extremely promising. With a nice light amber color, the nose on the Dry Fly Whiskey is bran cereal with cinnamon, apricot jam, vanilla and paste. The taste is very grainy with strong bran cereal and cardboard. We also get apricot, peach cobbler, oatmeal and cinnamon, and bran muffin. There’s a solid amount of heat with a nice wide mouth feel. The whiskey finishes well into a very cool finish. As with their vodka and gin, it’s clear just how exceptional the distilling process at Dry Fly is, and while we like this whiskey, we can only imagine what it could be. Left in barrel for another few years, it could become something amazing. As it stands, it’s pretty damn good.

Dry Fly Whiskey Rating:
 Very Highly Recommended – one of the best young whiskeys out there, but we can’t help wishing for more time in the barrel.

Considering how young a distillery Dry Fly is, their first three offerings are pretty mind blowing. The distilling talent in all their spirits is blazingly clear and we plan on following them very closely over the next few years because the elements are there to produce something that you run out to buy (and they’re pretty damn close to that already).

Drink Spirits Review

Solidly Recommended

2010

Dry Fly Gin – (80 proof) As with their vodka, Dry Fly has taken a big risk with their gin, leaving our panel trying to figure exactly what to do with it. The nose on the Dry Fly Gin is huge green apple, strawberry, confectioner’s sugar and honeysuckle flowers, and back – way, way back in the background – is just a hint of pine. The taste is apple, pepper, peach, vanilla, wheat, nectarine and lime peel. The finish is pretty quick and leaves your mouth very cool and clean. On the one hand, we enjoyed the taste of the Dry Fly Gin because it’s sweet and clean and extremely well distilled. On the other hand, we had a hard time calling it gin as there are hardly any juniper notes in it. We enjoyed Dry Fly Gin neat, on ice, and in a few cocktails. The flavor got lost in some of the heftier cocktails but was very pleasant neat or over ice. While we respect the distilling here, the gin misses its mark as a true gin. This may not be a bad thing for some drinkers who are looking for a white spirit that doesn’t have heavy juniper notes, so we’re giving it:
Dry Fly Gin Rating:
 Solidly Recommended - not really a classic gin but some won’t care and all will appreciate the expert distillation.

Drink Spirits Bourbon Review

*****

2011

Dry Fly has always walked to the beat of its own drum, and that’s a good thing.  Dry Fly’s Vodka, Gin, and Washington Wheat Whiskey all stand out in their categories as examples of unique offerings with distinct and unconventional flavor profiles.  The one common theme that has run through all of Dry Fly’s products is quality.  Dry Fly is fairly unyielding when it comes to their ingredients: everything they put in their bottle is local, and everything they use comes from a source they have a direct relationship with. This myopic focus on quality is emblematic of some of the very best of America’s artisan distillers.

Dry Fly Washington Bourbon 101 (101 proof $64.95) is a three year old whiskey made from Washington corn, unmalted wheat, and barley.  Golden amber in color, the Dry Fly Washington Bourbon has a nice spicy nose that brings together cinnamon, vanilla, allspice, oak, and caramel. The entry is very flavorful with big vanilla and caramel that hit the palate right out of the gate. The mouthfeel is simply fantastic, soft without being fatty with just a hint of elegance to it. Things open up considerably in the mid palate with some fantastic spice that balances out the sweet tones in the bourbon, including cinnamon, clove, and oak. The heat begins to come through at the end of the mid palate and leads to a fantastic long, sweet, and spicy finish. There’s no question that this is a younger bourbon, but how Dry Fly has managed to pull a level of complexity and sophistication out of such a young spirit is absolutely beyond us.

Dry Fly Washington Bourbon isn’t like a lot of the other bourbons on the market, and that’s a good thing.  The opportunity for craft distillers to innovate and create new expressions in this category is vast, and Dry Fly has seized the bull by the horns with one of the most exciting bourbon releases of the year.

The first batch of Dry Fly’s Washington Bourbon only comprised of 480 bottles, most of which were sold out the distillery door within hours. Dry Fly has made several bottles of this bourbon available through an Ebay charity auction in conjunction with the Spokane Chapter of the Ronald McDonald House.   Highest Recommendation

Boozenicks

2010

Nose: Dry Fly is a nice, light gin. There’s a slight sweetness and flowery note to the nose, with traces of citrus and coriander and some other mineraly scent I can’t quite place.

Taste: It’s a smooth, sweet, and floral to the taste. Some citrus peel and some astringency, but only mildly so. It does taste a bit like the wheat from which it’s made. I’m tempted to say it has some rye taste to it, but perhaps that’s some caraway in the botanicals suggesting the rye bread. It’s only 80 proof, so it goes down easier than many other gins, and there’s no real warmth let alone burn. It has a soft, silky, almost soapy feel in the mouth like soft water or cilantro tastes sometimes cause.

Finish: The finish is mostly clean and very smooth, with some mineraliness and a little bit of a resiny taste that lingers.

Notes: This would be a very good gin for a hot day out in the sun, and would make a very nice gin & tonic, and not a bad martini with a twist of citrus. It’s a very easy drinking gin and one that is easy for those who aren’t used to drinking gin to adopt.

Dry Fly Gin, (Dry Fly Distillery, Spokane, Washington), 80 proof, $28.95 at Oregon Liquor Stores

Beverage Experts Review

**** Exceptional

2010

Crystal clear. Once the appearance is considered, it holds absolutely no resemblance to a classic Vodka and we mean this in very positive sense. It’s amazingly fruity ( apples & berry ) with strong accents of cream soda and hints of cocoa. The palate delivers the same while being amazingly lush with a silky texture that extends the flavors for minutes. This attractive drink has perhaps launched a new spirits category. **** / EXCEPTIONAL !!!!