Doc’s Journal
Curious things for curious people. FREE SHIPPING for all subscribers.
Bourbon & Rye: The Complete Guide to America's legendary whiskey expressions
Explore the key differences between bourbon and rye whiskey. Learn flavor profiles, production methods, and how to choose the right one for your palate.
Doc Swinson’s Electric Cowboy
Developed by our friend Dennis Schafer at Jack’s Bar in Bellingham, this cocktail is destined to be a new summertime classic.
Doc Swinson’s Brown Butter Old Fashioned
One of our favorite classic whiskey cocktails, including a recipe for preparing the Session Bourbon brown butter.
The Doc’s orders
The Doc’s Orders is a new “Curious Cocktail” featuring Doc Swinson’s Session Bourbon that was developed by our friend Joe at The Mill on 7th in Lynden, Washington.
Curiosity At Sea
Aboard an historic and spectacular Norwegian tall ship, Doc’s served Electric Cowboy cocktails and straight pours of our whiskey alongside beautiful oysters from Taylor Shellfish Farms and an exceptional menu from Driftwood.
The Best Vibe In Ballard
It is with immense pride that we have launched an exciting new multi-faceted partnership with Radiator Whiskey in Seattle this October.
Step Inside the Barrel Lab
If you’ve never visited The Barrel Lab tasting room at Doc Swinson’s, you’re in for something special.
Doc's Wins The Bourbon Bash
Doc's recently participated in the annual Bourbon Bash at Atlanta's iconic Fox Theatre, where Atlanta-area whiskey lovers tasted dozens of whiskeys from top producers and voted for their favorites.
A Woody Masterpiece
The month we were proud to welcome in our latest piece of artistic intrigue: a masterful chainsaw carving by the legendary Leigh Woody.
The Curiosity of Blending Whiskey
Behind every great bottle is a blender with vision. Here’s why whiskey blending deserves the spotlight.
Doc’s 2024 Year in review…
Curious to celebrate our wins, our growth and what we’ve accomplished with the help of our ever growing curious whiskey connoisseurs?
Escape the ordinary with Summer Retreat Rye
This 2024 limited release transports us to hot summer days on the lake drinking refreshing, crisp, thirst quenching beverages with friends and family.
Ironically, Summer Retreat was created in the dead of winter when light was faded in the PNW, cold seeping into the bones of the barrels.
Sunset in a Bottle: Golden Hour Rye
Our New Exploratory Cask favorite- Golden Hour Rye, released Spring 2024- has a rich and interesting backstory.
To learn more, I interviewed Doc Swinson’s master blender, Jesse Parker, because I was curious about the process, flavor profiles and why this release is causing a stir of excitement in Doc Swinson’s team.
We won 4 Double Gold Awards at SFWSC 2024
We are excited about the strong performance of Doc Swinson’s in the 2024 San Francisco World Spirit Competition!
This is the competition of the year. All the big guys submit to it. The fact that we got four double golds out of seven entries, we're very proud of.
Learn more about how SFWSC entries, awards work and how we personally choose which products we submit!
Blended vs Blending Whiskey
There’s a misconception about blending whiskey. We want to set the story straight.
5 Tips on Tasting Whiskey Flavor Profiles
Tasting whiskey for beginners: A guide to developing your palate.
If you are trying to get into the bourbon and whiskey scene, you know there are so many whiskey options out there, how do you know what you like to drink?
The flavor profiles can be confusing at best…
When starting out, it's hard for whiskey to taste like anything but alcohol. Even good bourbons don't land quite well for someone who isn't used to having strong liquor in their mouth.
The "burn" associated with drinking high proof spirits can be a barrier to enjoyment and conceal the fancy flavors that veteran drinkers like to talk about. Getting used to the level of alcohol in whiskey is an important first step in finding the flavors.
Eventually though, with enough repetition, your mouth and tongue acclimate to higher proof alcohol and then the flavors come through.
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