The waterfront district of Seattle has been home to something special for over a decade. Copperworks Distilling Company, tucked away at 1250 Alaskan Way, has been quietly perfecting the art of craft spirits since opening its doors in 2013. Now, they're cracking open their archives in a way that's got collectors and enthusiasts buzzing.
The 2026 Archive Release represents more than just a sale of old bottles. It's a journey through the evolution of American craft distilling, told through 61 bottles spanning 11 different releases. Each one tells a story of experimentation, tradition, and the relentless pursuit of creating something exceptional.
The Crown Jewel
At the heart of this release sits something truly remarkable: a single bottle of Release No. 001, the very first whiskey Copperworks ever produced. Originally released on August 27, 2016, this piece of distilling history was crafted from pale malted barley and spent two years and six months maturing in charred new American oak before being bottled at 52% ABV.
"These archive releases let us look back and showcase our history," said Copperworks President and Co-Founder Jason Parker. "This year's archive release is particularly special, featuring only ONE bottle of Copperworks' legendary first-ever whiskey, Release No. 001, originally released on August 27, 2016. These special releases offer newer Copperworks fans a chance to taste some of our earliest products and allow collectors the opportunity to secure a unique piece of our history."
The whiskey itself offers a nose of soft honey and black tea aroma, with a smooth mouthfeel that gives way to flavors of smoked orange toffee, black pepper, and leather. It's not just a bottle of spirits—it's a snapshot of where everything began.
Given the singular nature of this release, Copperworks has implemented a lottery system. Every archive bottle purchased during the sale period earns the buyer an entry into the drawing for Release No. 001, ensuring fairness and giving everyone who participates a shot at owning this piece of history.
A Distillery Built on Questions
The story behind Copperworks starts with two craft brewers asking themselves a simple question: What would spirits taste like if they were distilled from superior craft beer, minus the hops, instead of following conventional distillery methods?
Jason Parker and Micah Nutt, co-owners and distillers with more than 30 years combined experience in the alcohol industry, built their distillery around finding the answer. The result positioned them as pioneers in American Single Malt Whiskey production, a category that has exploded in popularity both nationally and internationally.
Their approach is methodical and rooted in tradition. The spirits are distilled in copper stills specifically created in Scotland for the distillery, with each still designed for the distillation of individual spirits. It's this attention to detail and commitment to quality that earned Copperworks the title of 2018 Distillery of the Year from the American Distilling Institute.
The accolades kept coming. Their whiskey and gin have secured Double-Gold medals and scored between 94 and 96 points in prestigious spirits competitions. More recently, The Seattle Times readers voted Copperworks Best Distillery in the 2023 Best In The PNW contest.
The Archive Collection
Beyond the legendary Release No. 001, the 2026 Archive lineup showcases the breadth of Copperworks' innovation and experimentation over the years. These aren't just variations on a theme—they represent genuine exploration of what's possible when craft brewing principles meet traditional distilling.
Release No. 006, with four bottles available, demonstrates the distillery's early experimentation with cask finishing. Crafted using the Five Malt recipe, it combines seven barrels matured in new American Oak with a half cask matured in used Oloroso Sherry cask, bottled at 47.5% ABV. The nose delivers dried fruit, especially cherry and orange, while the palate offers leather, almond paste, and more dried fruit, finishing with subtle walnut and leather notes.
For those who appreciate intensity, Release No. 236 comes in at cask strength—59.95% ABV. This Five Malt recipe spent three years and two months in new American oak. The nose alone is an adventure: grass, a heap of spice including dill, black pepper, clove, sage, and pine resin, followed by citrus fruits, lemon, mandarin, melon rind, and finally some caramel. The flavor continues the journey with grass up front, plenty of spice, sweetness from brown sugar, black berries, cinnamon, nutmeg, baked apples, and baking chocolate. The finish lingers long with cinnamon apples, brown sugar, and black tea.
Brewery Collaborations
Some of the most intriguing releases in the archive showcase Copperworks' collaborative spirit with other Pacific Northwest craft beverage producers. These partnerships resulted in unique flavor profiles that blur the lines between beer and spirits culture.
The Release No. 024 Three Magnets Brewery Cask Finished, with 14 bottles available, spent 2 years and 5 months in new American oak before finishing 2 months in a Copperworks cask used to barrel age Three Magnets "Major Tompkins Oatmeal Stout." At 50% ABV, it offers aromas of citrus peel, chocolate truffle, and iced tea, meeting dark fruit, cocoa, and coffee fudge flavors on the palate, finishing with lychee, exotic spices, coffee, and chocolate tiramisu.
The Hair of the Dog collaborations represent another dimension of this experimental approach. The Matt Cask Finish, with five bottles available, was crafted using Oregon Genie barley and aged 3+ years in new American Oak before finishing 8 months in a bourbon cask that held Hair of the Dog's Matt American Strong Ale. The result at 50% ABV delivers maraschino cherry, plum, raisin, and chocolate malt balls on the nose, with citrus, milk chocolate, vanilla, and caramel on the palate, finishing with oak, spice, and citrus.
The Hair of the Dog Adam Cask Finish takes a different path with four bottles available. Also crafted from Oregon Genie barley and aged 3+ years in new American Oak before an 8-month finish in a bourbon cask that held Hair of the Dog's Adam Ale, this 50% ABV expression offers bright citrus, confectioners' sugar, pine, and strawberry on the nose, with flavors of citrus, cinnamon, malty sweetness, spice, and chocolate lava cake on the palate.
Local Ingredients, Big Flavors
Release No. 040, with just two bottles available, showcases the potential of hyper-local production. This single cask whiskey was made from 100% Washington Copeland barley from Skagit Valley, smoked with Washington peat, and matured for over 5 years in lightly charred new American Oak before being bottled at natural cask strength of 65.5% ABV.
The tasting notes paint a picture of complexity: aromas of chocolate mint, black tea, and lemon custard lead to flavors of honey, cream cheese frosting, butterscotch, and salted caramel. Those flavors carry through to the finish with lingering smoke and a slight earthiness. It's described as a great whiskey for the winter months—perfect timing for a January release.
The Gin Side of Things
While whiskey takes center stage in many craft distilleries, Copperworks has also built a reputation for exceptional gin, and the archive release doesn't overlook this. Several cask-finished gins demonstrate that the same innovative spirit applied to whiskey production translates beautifully to gin.
The Cask Finished Gin aged in Spanish brandy and Jamaican rum, with seven bottles available, spent over 2 years in a Spanish brandy cask before finishing 6 months in a Jamaican rum cask. At 50% ABV, it delivers mouthwatering brown sugar, peppercorns, citrus, ginger, and sweet grass.
The IPA Cask Finished Gin, Release No. 029, represents a particularly creative collaboration. With eight bottles available, this unique expression used a cask that was first filled by Elliott Bay Brewing to create barrel-aged Demolition IPA, then returned to Copperworks and refilled with gin for almost a year. At 50% ABV, it offers lemon balm, citrus hard candy, eucalyptus, peppermint, and bitter hop notes.
Five bottles of the Tonic Barrel Gin, Release No. 038, showcase yet another angle. This gin was finished in a barrel that previously held Bradley's Kina Tonic, a Seattle-based small batch tonic producer. The result at 50% ABV brings bright citrus and juniper meeting toasted cinnamon and chinchona for what feels like an expressive gin and tonic reduction, perfect for cocktails or enjoyment on its own.
The Hair of the Dog Adam Cask Finish Gin rounds out the gin selection with three bottles available. Finished 8 months in a bourbon cask that previously held Hair of the Dog's Adam Ale and bottled at 47.05% ABV, it's bright and fresh with notes of sugared ruby red grapefruit, kumquat, tart cherries, and cinnamon on the nose. The palate follows with freshly smashed chocolate orange accompanied by monkey bread, tangerine, cotton candy, and sage, all supported by the small batch gin base. Hints of sugar cane, cherry pie filling, sarsaparilla, and spice round out the experience.
Access and Opportunity
"With only 61 total bottles available across 11 different releases, this year's archive sale represents some of the rarest opportunities to own Copperworks history. The lottery system for Release No. 001 ensures fair access to this legendary bottle, while the diverse selection showcases Copperworks' innovative approach to both whiskey and gin production – from traditional American Single Malts to experimental brewery cask finishes," said Copperworks Co-Owner and Vice President Jeff Kanof.
The release follows a tiered access system designed to reward the distillery's most dedicated supporters while still giving everyone a chance. Members and investors get first crack at an exclusive premiere event on Thursday, January 22, from 5pm to 7pm at the Seattle waterfront distillery. This event features tasting flights of almost all archive releases, early purchase access, light charcuterie, and the opportunity to hear Co-Founder and President Jason Parker share the stories behind each release.
Copperworks Whiskey Club members can purchase archive releases starting Friday, January 23, both online and in person, giving them a full day head start before the general public. Those interested in joining the club to gain access to the premiere event and early purchasing can sign up at the distillery's website.
The general public gets their shot starting Saturday, January 24, with bottles available both online and at the Seattle distillery and tasting room. Given the limited quantities—some releases down to just a single bottle or a handful—those interested will need to act quickly.
More Than Just Bottles
Copperworks has built something beyond a distillery over the past decade. Their downtown Seattle location in the high-traffic waterfront tourist district serves as a tasting room, gift shop, and educational hub where people can learn about the craft of distilling. The distillery offers tastings, tours, and other events focused on enjoying and learning about fine distilled spirits, including hands-on single-malt whiskey blending workshops that let participants get their hands dirty creating their own blends.
The spirits produced at Copperworks can be found throughout Washington State in bars, restaurants, and retail stores, though tracking down these archive releases will prove considerably more challenging than finding their regular lineup. The distillery maintains a list of bars and restaurants carrying their spirits on their website for those looking to experience Copperworks before committing to a bottle from the archive sale.
A Snapshot in Time
What makes archive releases like this special isn't just rarity or age. It's the window they provide into a distillery's evolution, the experiments that worked and the roads not taken. Each bottle represents decisions made years ago about grain selection, fermentation, distillation cuts, barrel char levels, and maturation time—decisions whose outcomes couldn't be fully known until now.
The diversity in this lineup also challenges preconceptions about what American craft distilling can be. From traditional single malts to brewery cask finishes, from high-proof cask strength releases to carefully balanced cask-finished gins, these 61 bottles demonstrate that craft distilling in America has grown far beyond simply making "good whiskey." It's become a platform for genuine innovation while respecting traditional techniques.
For those who manage to secure bottles from this release, they're not just buying spirits—they're buying a piece of Pacific Northwest craft distilling history. And for whoever wins that lottery drawing for Release No. 001, they'll own something truly unique: the bottle that started it all, the first step in a journey that led to a 2018 Distillery of the Year award and recognition as one of the pioneers of American Single Malt Whiskey.
The 2026 Archive Release represents Copperworks Distilling Company looking back at where they've been while continuing to push forward. For collectors, enthusiasts, and anyone who appreciates the craft of creating exceptional spirits, it's an opportunity that won't come around again. Once these 61 bottles are gone, they're gone for good—consigned to memory and, for the lucky few, personal collections where they'll either be savored slowly or held as treasured artifacts of a distillery that dared to ask what was possible and then set about proving it, one batch at a time.
