Dry Fly, Cask & Release, Straight Wheat Whiskey, Kettlehouse Brewing Beer Barrel Finished

Dry Fly Distilling experiment, releasing their used oak casks--used for 3 years on their wheat whiskey--to craft brewers who then use them to make barreled beer, and then return the barrels to Dry Fly to fill again with their 3yr whiskey and age finish for another year. This cask release was used by Kettlehouse Brewing to age their Coldsmoke, a Scotch style ale (toffee, coffee, caramel, and a hint of smoke), then refilled by Dry Fly with the 3yr wheat whiskey it originally held. Dark copper color and strong coating legs in the glass. Nose is vanilla grain, sugar cinnamon oatmeal, floral, a touch of smoke. Spicy, pepper, and burnt sugar sweet in the mouth. A little sour and smoke/oak flavor, and then chocolate and coffee. Thin mouthfeel. Finish is dry spicy, mint, sweet grass, sweet and sour, bittersweet chocolate. Disappears quickly. More spicy than the regular Dry Fly wheat whiskey, less dry oak (as I remember) and more bittersweet chocolate notes. Flavors shocked me on first try, but I've grown to like this bottle. Ice doesn't do it any favors, really. I like Dry Fly's commitment to local products and sharing casks and experimenting. Their 3 year standard aging is too short--the wheat whiskies they age longer or finish in used casks are much more interesting. Four years should be their base age. That said, they're doing it well their way in the heart of the Inland Empire.