The wood in those hundred-plus-year-old Spanish barrels is bleeding sweet, rich flavors. BRITTANY WRIGHT
I’m standing in the barrel room of Captive Spirits Distilling in Ballard (1518 NW 52nd St, 852-4794) with distiller and owner Ben Capdevielle, hovering over two well-worn, 53-gallon bourbon barrels. The barrels are branded with words and logos that reveal the journey they took to get here: first, Kentucky, where they held Wild Turkey, then Seattle (Sodo, specifically), where Westland Distillery (2931 First Ave S, 767-7250) used them to age their Peated American Single Malt Whiskey. The barrel doesn’t tell us where its wood, American white oak, came from, but it most likely grew in the woods of Missouri or Arkansas…
