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Organic American Whiskey; Warfield Distillery; Ketchum, ID; $85

This week, Ken’s Bar has taken a gigantic step into the world of social media. Yes, it’s true. I’ve decided to YouTube! I’m not sure what direction that will take the blog, or perhaps it will circle back around and thrust its ugly social-media-head straight into my eyeball.

I don’t know.

I eventually plan to upload a weekly video along with the blog, but we’ll wait and see how that goes. I mean, I do have a life. I think.

It all started when the wife and I took a weekend trip to Ketchum, Idaho for our anniversary. Looking for a place to eat, we found this joint stuck right smack dab in the center of town that had some pretty nice food and some very nice whiskey.

So, the subject of Episode 1 of the Ken’s Bar YouTube channel is a cute, little whiskey from Ketchum. It’s called Organic American Whiskey and it’s made by Warfield Distillery and Brewery. The super cool thing about Warfield’s whiskey is that they use Scottish pot stills and distill their hooch in the Scottish style, which means something!

In fact, it means something wonderful. And what is that? Well, it means that Warfield Organic American Whiskey tastes an awful lot like Glenlivet 12-year. Yeah, it tastes like Scotch, and not the bad kind, either. More like the really good kind. Glenlivet 12-year was my gate-way Scotch, and Warfield’s little gem reminds me so much of Glenlivet that I would likely have a hard time telling the two apart in a blind tasting.

But, there’s a subtle difference that most whiskey lovers should pick up on: Glenlivet has that peaty, smokey thing going on — although subtly — where the Warfield does not. Instead, Warfield’s Organic American Whiskey is light, with a subtle apricot thing on the sides of the tongue and a delightfully playful finish that is smooth as glass. I might say it’s one of the smoothest finishing whiskies I’ve ever tried. Basically, it’s Glenlivet 12 without the Glenlivet.

That Warfield has found a way to distill a whiskey in the Scottish style and get so close that I have a hard time telling the difference is just awesome! Hundreds of years of tradition are hard to conquer, but I think Warfield has accomplished that.

But, there is a caveat. Warfield’s entrance into the world of “Scotch” comes at a price. The stuff is $100 per bottle, or more than double the cost of the Glenlivet 12-year. That’s a big ask, and one that I have a difficult time with. Still, I do own a bottle, mostly because my wife bought it for me for our 26th wedding anniversary, which tells me that she’s buttering me up for something. Probably a shopping spree some place expensive.

At any rate, Warfield is incredibly good whiskey, if you like Scotch. If you’re looking for the atypical Kentucky Bourbon or Tennessee Whiskey you’ll be disappointed. This stuff tastes like it just fell off the island yesterday, and that’s a very long way from the whiskey capital of the USA. Oddly, Warfield’s Idaho distillery is also a good long ways from that same place.

My only grumble about this stuff is that it’s best competition is half the price, but don’t let that stop you. I sure didn’t.

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Warfield Organic American Whiskey
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