Copperworks Single Malt Whiskey Blending Workshop

As many of my friends can attest, I am a hardcore whiskey nerd. Not only do I love the “water of life” for it’s delicious flavor, I adore learning about the nuances of its creation: the barley, fermentation, distillation, maturation, and blending. Anytime I find an opportunity to learn something new, like a tasting event or workshop, I jump on it. Most recently, that was the Single Malt Whiskey Blending Workshop by Copperworks Distilling Co. in Seattle, Washington. I had a wonderful experience and wanted to geek out with you, so pour a dram, and read on.

PSA: A Brief Word About Blending

If you’re drawing a blank around the term “blending” in this context, no worries. Simply put, blending is taking whiskey from multiple barrels to create a product (a.k.a. an expression.) This goal of this process could be to match the flavor profile of a popular product or to create a new or special release. I could go off into the weeds regarding the word blending in the specific category of blended malts, but I will spare you the minutiae. You’re welcome.

The Blending Workshop

Back to the Copperworks event! The actual workshop took place in the production area, between their fermentation tanks, aging barrels, and their beautiful Scottish-made pot stills. The tables were set with tasting glasses on lovely copper trays, with some water, glasses, and note paper that was all ready for our experiments.

Jason Parker, the Co-founder and President of Copperworks, explained that Copperworks was founded by expert brewers, and that led to a unique spin on their single malt whiskey. Instead of using a traditional “wash” to ferment, they use use a beer (minus the hops), all in the pursuit of better flavor. If you’re struggling to wrap your head around the difference between a wash and a beer, here’s a handy explanation from their website. They make the beer at a local brewery before bringing it back to the distillery to ferment, distill, etc, etc. He then spoke about their distillation in the traditional Scottish-made pot stills (one in the shape of the Balvenie still and the other in the shape of the Aberlour still.) Next, he described how maturation actually works, and some of the chemistry behind it. I took a bunch of notes because the nerd in me could not be contained.

The next step was actually working with the whiskey. We received four samples in total, from four separate barrels. He didn’t give us any details on the barrels – yet – as he didn’t want to subconsciously affect our blends with maturation time, proof, etc. He encouraged us to take notes on the aroma, flavor, and finish of each of the cask-strength samples. I’ll spare you the entirety of my notes, but each were so distinctive, it was easy to briefly sum them up:

Cask 1: Floral, apple, with baking spices

Cask 2: Caramel, grains, and a slight astringency

Cask 3: Sweet and oaky, and slight cedar (reminded me of a bourbon)

Cask 4: Dark caramel and char, almost like an overdone toasted marshmallow on a campfire

Then it was time for the main event. We got to blend our very own whiskey, just like a special edition expression from a distillery! There were measuring glasses for us to use, and Jason and Jeff Kanof (the Vice President) made sure to refill our spent glasses to make sure we had enough to work with and sample.

We were working with cask-proof whiskey (which ranged from 56.3% to 62.3% ABV), which really magnifies the flavor. To me, whiskies have some distinctive flavor variables to play with: fruit, spice, caramel, oak, grains, brine, and smoke. There are plenty more (like floral, rubber, herbal, etc), but I always notice the other flavors first.

My goal was to highlight the Copperworks character of fruit and caramel, and accent with a little spice and the savory char from some of the barrels. I’m not a fan of oaky whiskies, so I decided to avoid the whiskey matured in the new American Oak barrels. To me, new oak seems to overwhelm any other flavors, but that’s my own personal preference. We played around with ratios, and added water to see how the flavors would change (because they absolutely do.)

We did the exact opposite of what you’re supposed to do in chemistry class: we drank our experiments.

I tried four different blends of varying ratios of the four whiskies, and finally settled on one that I liked best. It was 50% of one cask, and 25% of two others. At our table, the five of us discussed our blends and passed around glasses to nose. It was so interesting to learn the flavors that people were aiming for with their blend and how it compared to my own. For example, one gentleman in particular loved bourbon, so his blend was heavy on the new American Oak barrel.

After we had all finished concocting our blends, Jason revealed the mysterious details for each cask:

• Recipe (what types of barley)
• Cask Type (American or not, new or used, char level, and cooperage)
• Cask Fill Date
• Cask Entry Proof
• Maturation Time (down to the day!)
• Sample Proof

Absolutely fascinating for a geek like myself!

Now that we had actually designed our blends, it came time to actually do the bottling. Jason helped us fill our bottles directly from the casks (non-chill filtered and no added coloring!) Jeff helped us create our labels and seal our bottles. Voila, we had our one-of-a-kind expression ready to go.

Unsurprisingly, I thoroughly enjoyed this informative and fun workshop! Learning more about the process and then getting the chance to blend our own expression was an engaging way to become familiar with the character of their whiskey. It seems like Copperworks hosts these workshops a few times a year, so check out their website if you’re interested in attending one yourself. Now, if you will excuse me, I have some whiskey to enjoy. Sláinte!