Award-Winning Local Bourbon, Tailgating Fun and More

Fall is in full swing, and with it the temperatures are dropping. But, luckily, our local distillers, cideries and bars have a host of news sure to keep you warm.

J.P. Trodden Bourbon Wins Big, Goes on Tour: Woodinville-based J.P. Trodden distillery’s bourbon won a Double Gold medal at the San Francisco World Spirits last March (judged by a panel of renowned spirits experts), and is now being featured in a national tasting tour of Double Gold winners. The tour will be in Seattle on October 29, but is sadly only open to people in the bar or spirits business. However, the J.P. Trodden Distillery tasting room is open Saturdays from 12 to 5 p.m., and the best way to taste is at the source. Opened in 2009 by distiller Mark Nesheim, J.P. Trodden Distilling is named after Nesheim’s grandfather, and is inspired by his passion, ambition and generosity when he was a mail carrier in the Okanagan region of Washington during Prohibition in the early 1930’s. If you haven’t yet tasted this bourbon, it has rich, approachable, layered flavors that mingles caramel, spice, oak and more into a very smooth sipper.

Locust Cider Cocktails at Local Spots: You can now find fun Locust Cider cocktails at Jak’s Grills and at El 42 Cantina. The drinks at Jak’s include the 8th Day Old Fashioned, with Locust Green Tea-infused cider combined with Knob Creek bourbon, Cherry Heering, simple syrup, and Peychaud’s bitters, and the Locust’s Knees, with the Locust Original Dry cider mingling with vodka, a vanilla-honey simple syrup and lemon juice. And at El 42 you can fine the Campamocha, with Locust Original Dry cider, elderflower liqueur, simple syrup, lime juice and sparkling Prosecco. I’ve been told these drinks are also order-able at the Sunset Alehouse and the new Green Lake Alehouse, too (though perhaps not on the menu yet as of this writing, but ask for them).

3 Howls Tailgate Tasting: Do up next week’s Monday night Seahawks game (go Hawks!) right by stopping at the 3 Howls distillery for pre-game tailgating fun. Located super close to CenturyLink Field, 3 Howls Monday night kickoff starts early, at noon, and will have pre-game festivities on a big screen and barbecue bites, smoked with wood from 3 Howls’ whiskey barrels, made by Skillet’s Chef Nick Novello. But of course the real star of the tailgating will be the 3 Howls lineup of spirits, all of which will be available for tasting. Score!

Local Bars Named Best In Nation for Whiskey: As part of its seventh anniversary, The Bourbon Review has again released a list of its picks for the 75 Best Bourbon Bars in America, and two awesome local bars made the list: Rob Roy and Liberty! You can help celebrate, too: The Bourbon Review, in partnership with Four Roses Bourbon, is hosting a nationwide “toast” this Wednesday, September 30, in honor of these great bars and as part of National Bourbon Heritage Month. Head to Rob Roy or Liberty, have some bourbon, and then post it to social media with hashtag #75Toast.

Stark Vatten Vodka Wins Washington Cup: A competition solely for American-made spirituous liquors, the Washington Cup had a field of 130 bottles, and Wildwood Spirits Co. (which is opening its new distillery space this October in Bothell, next to the recently opened Beardslee Public House) was one of six overall winners. Its Stark Vattan vodka took home the top marks in the vodka category as announced on September 9. Wildwood’s Kur Gin also won a Washington Cup’s silver medal. The spirits were judged both by professionals and by the general public.