McCarthy’s Oregon Single Malt Whiskey

McCarthy’s Oregon Single Malt Whiskey is of the Islay tradition of Scotch whisky. Of well-known single malts from Scotland, it resembles the Lagavulin whisky. It is very peat-y. Made from peat-malted barley brought in from Scotland, our whiskey would be a single malt Scotch if Oregon were Scotland. Widmer Brothers ferments the peat-malted barley into a “wash” or unhopped beer. Using the unfinished wash allows us to get all the flavor and character of the malt when we distill. We distill in our Holstein pot stills using one pass distillation, but make a small “heads” cut and a fairly large “tails” cut and put about 4 liters of tails into the next still run. The proof at time of distillation is about 150 (75%). Then we reduce in proof and barrel-age the rough distillate in old sherry casks. All the Oregon Single Malt now spends some time in barrels made from air-dried Oregon Oak. The present bottling is only 3 years old but we think it is remarkably smooth for such a young whiskey. The result is a smooth, peat-y whiskey with a surprisingly clean finish. Production is very limited because what we put in the barrel doesn’t come out for years.

McCarthy’s Oregon Single Malt Whiskey received attention from its early days in the 1990′s because American Single Malt was a novelty. In 2000, Gary Regan and Mardee Haidin Ragen noted in the Malt Advocate (March, 2000, p. 24) that in the world of American whiskey, “the times they are a-changing.” Their article described how single malts have started to gain in popularity over the past decade and “full flavored American whiskey has made a comeback.” At that time (2000) three artisanal distillers were making American Single Malts, but only McCarthy’s had been released.

McCarthy’s started to receive significant acclaim in 2004, when Jim Murray’s Whiskey Bible gave McCarthy’s its Best Small Batch Whiskey in the world award and a score of 94. That same year Michael Jackson put McCarthy’s in his list of The Ten Best American Whiskeys, published in both the Men’s Journal (December 2004) and The Malt Advocate ( First Quarter 2005). Consistently rave reviews have continued. In his 2006 edition of The Whiskey Bible, Jim Murray wrote, “McCarthy’s has earned a place among the world’s elite whiskeys.” His 2008 edition of The Whiskey Bible gave McCarthy’s a phenomenal score of 96.

750 ml bottle $54.95*

*Note that this is the suggested retail price and that actual retail price can vary from state to state and sometimes from store to store.

Where to Buy

McCarthy’s Oregon Single Malt Whiskey is sold out. This small batch whiskey is in high demand and sells out quickly. A few good retailers throughout the country still have a small amount of McCarthy’s in stock, but we have shipped every last case from the distillery in Portland, Oregon, where it is made. The next bottling is scheduled for February, 2013. There is a waiting list and if you’d like to be notified as the release date approaches, please contact us to be put on the list.

We have recently discovered that Caddell & Williams, an online retailer in California, has ten cases of McCarthy’s, and it is only $50 a bottle (before shipping).