Dry Fly's Fleischmann. Hofmann (left) with Lamb in 2013
Let's take advantage of the season to pause for a moment and reflect: there was a time that no one understood the term "small batch distilling." Yes, Bigfoot still roamed the Cascades in those ancient times, seven or eight years ago, when fishing buddies Don Poffenroth and Kent Fleischmann would stand streamside along the Gallatin (yup, Montana, where a river does indeed run through it) and cast their flies in quest of rainbows and brown trout. I'm not a fisherman myself but I do know that the subtext of fishing isn't catching fish; it's about what you do before and after; in this case, the two friends were making plans to open a distillery, back in Spokane, where they both worked in marketing and brand development. No matter that it hadn't been done since Prohibition, no matter that their project wasn't even legal. And yet, the Legislature got turned around; it created a "craft distillery" category requiring 50 percent local ingredients, and the wheat farmers of the Palouse got themselves a new customer.
Today, Dry Fly is one of the top three craft distillers in the state (along with Woodinville Whiskey and Westland Distillery), and has just done something the others, so far, have not: partnered with a restaurant chain as its exclusive vodka supplier. The chain is California-based Eureka, which has an outlet at University Village, lots of burgers but plenty of interesting fare like beet salad, osso buco riblets, and shrimp tacos. And Dry Fly vodka as the base for spicy cocktails like the Reaper.
"True craft distilling isn't profit-making," Fleischmann explains. "It's a high-overhead, low-margin business." Still, 10,000 cases a year, all of it from wheat grown in the Palouse country of eastern Washington, milled to a fine powder. From Spokane, it's shipped to 35 states and 22 countries, one batch of 576 bottles at a time.
Meantime, Cornichon can confirm today the rumors of a major change at Westland Distillery: co-founder Emerson Lamb has left the company for personal reasons.
Master Distiller Matt Hofmann has taken over most of the marketing and administrative duties previously performed by Lamb. The two Bellarmine Prep pals started Westland when they were in their early 20s. Lamb is not expected to return.
Founded just five years ago, Westland is one of Washington's "big three" craft distilleries and was recently named Craft Producer of the Year by the American Distilling Institute.
Hofmann is looking ahead to exporting his American Single Malt whiskeys to Japan and to Europe, and to working with Washington State University's Bread Lab in the Skagit Valley on improving the quality of the barley in the single malts.
"American Single Malt is a new category," says Hofmann, "an expression of American terroir and American grain. We're very excited to be rolling out new products in the coming year that tell this story."
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