Barley: Not Just a "Commodity" for Distillers

In our last episode, we looked at how different types of Rye
produce different flavors in whisky. While that's relatively new
understanding for Rye, it's been common practice for generations
among distillers to search out the latest, greatest Barley
strains available for making single malts. However, most of those
strains are selected not by distillers, but by maltsters looking
for yield per acre and not necessarily flavor per dram. Seattle's
Westland Distillery has been working with Barley mavericks in
Washington's Skagit Valley to explore strains that don't exist in
the "commodity system" for several years, and master distiller
Matt Hofmann joins us with the story behind Colere, their
upcoming single malt series that focuses on those unique strains
of Barley. We'll also have the week's whisky news, including a
management shakeup on Islay that caught the island by
surprise.