Tatoosh Small Batch Bourbon

If the Seattle Grunge band Nirvana had sipped on Tatoosh Bourbon instead of espresso they would have become Lynyrd Skynyrd.

In 2009, Troy Turner rediscovered his roots. It seems that his great-great grandfather was run-out of Louisiana for moonshining. He rode the rails to the West Coast—Seattle—and settled down. From then on he kept things mostly legal, but distilled enough for “personal consumption.” Well, that’s their story and they’re sticking to it.

They started with a single-malt Whiskey, then added Bourbon and Rye to the menu. Small batch distilling in copper stills, local ingredients, proper aging in American Oak, and a jigger of fun make up their entire line.

Take four generations of Southern Moonshine love and mix in a classic Bourbon recipe, copper pot distillation, and medium-char, new American oak aging and you get this little Seattle gem. The recipe is spot-on Americana : 70% corn, 15% Rye, and 15% malt. Tattoosh Bourbon gets you all of the sweet, spice, and complexity you want in a nice easy-drinker.

This Bourbon shines neat. There is no reason to hide it with mixers, just pour a bit in your glass and pick up your guitar around the campfire. Don’t get us wrong, it mixes well and makes great craft cocktails. What we are saying is that it is smooth enough to stand on its own, which is pretty rare. Rock on Tatoosh!

SmartAss Corner
What the heck is a “Tatoosh” anyway? Well, back in the 1800’s, a pidgin trade language sprang up as a combination of French, English, and local native American dialects called “Chinook Jargon.” There is a Tatoosh Mountain Range, Wilderness area, Island, and various other things. Let’s just say that there is a long history of lonely frontiersmen naming rocky outcroppings after, um … the female anatomy and leave it at that.