Bottle Stats

Produced by Re:Find Distillery, exclusive to Wade's Wines
Rye Whiskey from California, with a mash bill of rye, wheat, and barley
Matured for 8 years in American Standard Barrels (200 litre)
ABV is 71.1%
Described as a "one-off" and a "COVID accident" by the producer
Quite possibly a single cask (otherwise a very small batch)
Number of bottles is unknown
Bottling date is unknown

Distillery Key Facts

Re:Find Distillery was founded in 2011
Located in Paso Robles, California in the heart of wine country
The first “craft distillery” in the region
Wort/wash is brewed by Firestone Walker Brewing exclusively for Re:Find Distillery (mash bill / recipe is specified by Re:Find)
All fermentation, distillation, and aging is handled by Re:Find Distillery itself
Also produces vodka, gin, and various liqueurs using spirit distilled from saignée (free-run juice) from their vineyards, which otherwise would be a waste byproduct of wine production
Local climate is described as “hot-summer Mediterranean” with long, hot, dry summers and brief, cool, rainy winters
Average local temperatures between 3-37°C

Why Re:Find?

I grew up in California. While California is celebrated for its wine, entertainment, and natural beauty, it's certainly not known for whiskey.

Even still, there are currently more than 200 operational “craft distilleries” in California (more than any other state in the United States). Not all of them are producing whiskey, but that's a staggering number to me.

When I last lived in California, I frequented a cocktail bar called The Good Lion in Santa Barbara. Featuring almost all small batch spirits, I often used to see Re:Find products behind the bar. I tried the Re:Find standard small batch rye at 46% ABV, and I enjoyed it. It had personality.

The pandemic hit soon thereafter, and I started spending quite a bit of time up in Paso Robles because wineries were still open (with restrictions) and you could enjoy wine and BBQ outside in relative safety. This trend continued for me as the pandemic waned, and I finally stopped into Re:Find Distillery in Paso Robles after it reopened to visitors.

It's a compact space but a welcoming one. Oddly, I couldn't buy any cask strength expressions of their rye at the distillery. Instead, the exclusive source of Re:Find cask strength rye was located 3+ hours south at Wade's Wines, near Los Angeles. A month later, I stopped by Wade's and finally picked up a bottle of cask strength Re:Find Rye at a face-melting ABV (from memory, upwards of 65%). But, it was tasty!

While gathering whiskies for my Pacific Rim Tasting, I wanted to add a cask-strength Re:Find Rye to the mix, so I returned to Wade's Wines once again in April 2023 when I was back visiting family in California. The cask strength rye was in-stock but next to it, curiously, was an 8-year old expression at a staggeringly high 71.1% ABV. Wade's Wines had one open, so I tried a wee taste. Great mouthfeel and flavour! ABV be damned – very tasty, indeed!

I asked the guy pouring for me what he knew about it. He told me it was some kind of "COVID accident", implying that the distillery had allowed the cask a longer maturation time due to COVID complexities and/or restrictions. It was vague. Nevertheless, I bought the bottle and brought it back to Scotland to be used for the tasting.

Not content with a mystery, I emailed the Re:Find Distillery several times, politely asking them if they could tell me anything and everything they could about this particular bottle. I eventually received a reply a few weeks later from Monica, one of the distillery cofounders. She was nice about it but, regrettably, not very helpful:

I unfortunately do not have this information on hand. My dropbox was corrupted and I don't have an easy way to get this information. It would take me a really long time. Sorry about that!

Monica did provide a couple of tiny tidbits from "off the top of [her] head":

This was a one-off barrel for Wade's [Wines]. It is a rye, wheat, and barley mash bill. It was aged in barrels for 8 years in 53 gallon barrels.

Picking that apart, I still can't tell if this bottle comes from a single barrel or a small batch.

I wish there was more information I could offer my tasting attendees about this 8-year old expression of Re:Find Rye, but unfortunately this is all we've got. We'll just have to let the whiskey speak for itself.