Market Watch, Summer 2020

74 MARKET WATCH MARKETWATCHMAG COM SUMMER 2020 It then comes back to Woodinville where we bottle and ship to market This will be a much more efficient system With its expanded capacity Woodinville will also have greater opportunity to offer more specialty releases and older expressions Were finally at the point of having sufficient inventory to hold back some and weve been doing that Sorensen says The company did offer a very limited distillery only release of an 8 year old whiskey some time ago On the innovation front in February Woodinville released Triple Barrel blended whiskey finished in Islay Scotch barrels to celebrate its 10th anniversary Sorensen credits the Moët Hennessy whisky team led by Dr Bill Lumsden and Brendan McCarron of Scotlands Glenmorangie and Ardbeg distilleries for lending key insights to the expansion project They came out to vet us prior to the acquisition and we spent a lot of time together Sorensen says Since then theyve been extremely helpful counseling us on how to maintain product quality as we expand and grow Their advice has helped us undertake this project with the confidence that product integrity can remain Lumsden in particular was emphatic that all expansion be carried out on the existing distillery footprint Dr Bill raised great points about terroir noting that there are 110 different wineries in Woodinville and everything from the natural yeasts in the air to the water source pointed to the need for all distilling to remain here Sorensen adds Both the Quincy and Woodinville expansion projects are slated for completion in September and Sorensen notes these initiatives wouldnt have been possible without the involvement of Moët Hennnessy The financial requirements of quality whiskey production are so cash intensive he says Its the strength of a company like Moët Hennessy thats allowed us to do these things But it was Moët Hennessys history of upscale brand stewardship that was the biggest factor in Sorensen and Carliles decision to make the deal back in 2017 We went with Moët Hennessy because the last thing we wanted was to do a deal then over expand and see everything change for the worse Sorensen says Moët Hennessys vision for Woodinville is really 10 20 years or even 100 years down the road Some of their brands have been around for centuries and thats how they see things Its not about what will turn a profit next year its about making Woodinville a brand with roots like those of Hennessy Glenmorangie Ardbeg and others mw permanent lineup Other Woodinville labels are smaller limited release items including Bottled In Bond Cask Strength Toasted Applewood Finish and Double Barrel Woodinville also offers its annual Harvest Release the next one to be unveiled in September Expanded Production The Woodinville distillery has been operating with a 1500 gallon pot still running a double shift every day and producing about 150000 proof gallons annually Shortly after the Moët Hennessy deal plans began for a major expansion That project which is slated for completion this fall will add two new stills and boost annual capacity to around 1 million proof gallons about six times the previous level The distillery will now have three stills two mash cookers and three 10000 gallon fermenters all operating on a 24 7 basis On the maturation side Woodinville has always aged its whiskies at the Omlin family farm in Quincy Washington where it also sources its grains Now its expanding in Quincy as well recently completing a 12000 barrel warehouse and currently planning to start work on a second 12000 barrel warehouse in a few months In addition all barreling and bottling is now moving from Woodinville to Quincy freeing up space in Woodinville for the distillery expansion Under this new regime whiskey will be trucked in bulk from Woodinville to Quincy to be barreled aged and bottled there Right now we distill and barrel in Woodinville and then the whiskey is transported to Quincy for aging notes Sorensen Co founders Orlin Sorensen and Brett Carlile pictured note that despite the Covid 19 pandemic Woodinvilles expansion is going well With four states added this summer the distillerys distribution footprint now stands at 20 states and Washington D C Its about making Woodinville a brand with roots like those of Hennessy Glenmorangie Ardbeg and others Woodinville co founder Orlin Sorensen