Move Over, Kentucky: Woodinville Bourbon Is on Its Way

First things first: Yes, bourbon can be distilled outside of Kentucky. Congress decreed that back in 1964. While most bourbon still comes from the Southern states, a distillery in Woodinville is poised to make its mark on the bourbon scene.

Mark Nesheim, distiller and owner (along with his wife Jennifer Seversen) of JP Trodden Distilling in Woodinville, is just 18 months from releasing his first batch of the singularly American spirit, bourbon. 

A couple of years ago, after successful careers in the restaurant industry, including director of management for 13 Coins in Seattle and then director of golf operations at Newcastle Golf Club, Nesheim  and Seversen were looking for a new business they could start together. They briefly thought about starting a winery but “the competition was incredible,” Nesheim said.

After seeing an ad for Tito’s Handmade Vodka featuring Tito and his dog, Seversen commented on their dog being prettier, and the idea for a small-batch craft distillery was born.

Nesheim started investigating distilling, reading everything he could find on the subject. He also had a short apprenticeship at Dry Fly Distilling in Spokane, Washington’s other bourbon producer (it also makes handcrafted vodka, wheat whiskey and gin). “I learned everything I could from those guys and worked there in the distillery, too,” Nesheim said.

Woodinville was the first choice to start the new business for two reasons: Nesheim and Seversen live nearby in Bothell, plus the natural draw of the crowds visiting the wineries and four other distillers in town. 

Unlike the other distilleries in town, JP Trodden makes only one product; bourbon. “It’s the spirit we’re passionate about, and I wanted to be able to come to work and feel good about what I’m making,” Nesheim said. “Bourbon is a uniquely American product and we’re proud of the fact that all our equipment and stills are built here in the United States.”

Under Washington’s craft distillery law, half of the product's raw materials must be grown in the state. All of the grain Nesheim uses, corn and soft winter wheat, is grown on a family run farm in Quincy, WA. “That’s another thing we’re proud of, that we’re not out scrounging for grain. Quincy is a perfect growing zone for those grains.” 

According to federal law, for a spirit to be labeled bourbon it must contain a minimum of 51 percent corn, be aged for two years (if it’s aged less than two years it must state so on the label) in new, charred American oak barrels, distilled at less than 80 percent alcohol/volume (160 proof) and have no artificial color or flavoring. 

“The thing with bourbon, unlike whiskeys, I can’t add anything to enhance the flavor,” Nesheim said. “I can’t add caramel color to make it look pretty, I can’t add flavor to make it taste different. To me, there’s something really special about that versus any other spirit.” 

The distillery’s name is a family affair: J.P. Trodden was Nesheim’s grandfather. The family has had property up in Chesaw, WA, near the Canadian border, since the late 1800s. “My great-grandfather was the first U.S. mail carrier up there, and then in 1930 my grandfather, J.P. Trodden, took over for a time, (and) that just happened to be during Prohibition.” 

Alcohol was legal in Canada. Nesheim is quick to add that while J.P. was no bootlegger, “He had to routinely make deliveries over both sides of the border, and grandpa used to like to stash a couple of bottles of whiskey in his U.S. mail truck on the way back. Just for himself and his friends. So we thought it was appropriate to name it after him.” 

Making bourbon is a basically a four-step process (greatly simplified here): Grind the grain and mix it with water, cook the mash, add yeast and ferment it, transport to a still for boiling and send the gas through a condenser and then run through the still again. Then comes the aging. 

When it’s released in September 2013, the first batch of JP Trodden bourbon will have aged 28 months, according to Nesheim. The first release will, like the sign on the distillery’s door says, be a very small batch, just two or three barrels. Nesheim said he plans on staying small, producing about 850 cases of bourbon a year. 

Nesheim expects to have no problem finding customers: “My long history in the restaurant business in Seattle has left me with a lot of contacts who just can’t wait to get their hands on it, so I’m very fortunate that way.”