Some whiskey stories begin with a recipe. Others begin with a barrel. The latest chapter from Copperworks Distilling Co. in Seattle starts with a cask that was already old long before anyone in Washington state was making single malt. It spent around two centuries in Spain, quietly doing a job most drinkers have never heard of. Now the last whiskey connected to that cask is nearing the end of its run, and the distillery has decided to hand the final decision over to the people who drink it.
The project is called the Color Cask Trials. It gives whiskey fans a chance to taste three versions of the same spirit and vote on which one becomes the final Copperworks Color Cask American Single Malt Whiskey. Only one will make it into the bottle. The other two will not.
It is an unusual approach for a distillery, and it comes with an unusual backstory.
A Cask With a Very Specific Job
What a color cask actually is
To understand why this whiskey matters to Copperworks, it helps to look at how sherry was made in the old bodegas of southern Spain. Sherry houses aimed for consistency. When a batch of oloroso sherry came out lighter in color than it should have, producers needed a way to fix it.
Their answer was to keep a supply of very dark, very concentrated sherry on hand. A small amount of it could deepen the color of a pale oloroso batch and bring it in line with what customers expected. The casks used to hold this dark sherry became known as color casks.
Over the years, those casks did more than just store liquid. Generation after generation, they soaked up that thick, concentrated sherry. The wood itself became saturated with it. By the time a color cask had been in service for many decades, it carried a depth of flavor that ordinary barrels simply could not match.
A fading tradition
The practice of keeping color casks is slowly dying out. As sherry production has changed, the need for these casks has dropped. That shift has allowed a few of them to leave the bodegas where they spent their working lives.
Copperworks managed to bring one of them to Seattle. The cask came from Bodegas Argüeso in Cádiz, Spain, and it is estimated to be about 200 years old. For a distillery known for experimenting with American single malt, it was a rare find.
The First Whiskey From the Cask
Going all the way, not just finishing
Many distilleries use sherry casks to finish a whiskey. That usually means the spirit ages most of its life in one barrel, then spends a short time in a sherry cask at the end to pick up some extra character.
Copperworks went a different route with its color cask. Rather than using it only as a finishing barrel, the distillery matured a whiskey entirely in the cask for nearly five years. From start to finish, the spirit lived inside wood that had held concentrated sherry for generations.
A whiskey that divided opinion
That first Color Cask American Single Malt Whiskey was released two years ago. It was rich and sweet, and it stood apart from everything else in the Copperworks lineup.
It also sparked strong reactions. Some drinkers counted it among their favorites. Others saw it more as a curiosity, something interesting to try rather than a regular pour. For the bars that managed to get a bottle, it turned into a conversation piece, the kind of whiskey that gets people talking across the counter.
Few whiskeys manage to split a crowd like that. Whether people loved it or simply found it fascinating, the first release made it clear that the color cask had a powerful influence on whatever went into it.
A Second Round, and a Fast One
Refilled with a six-year-old malt
After the first release, Copperworks put the cask back to work, this time as a finishing cask. The distillery filled it with whiskey that was almost six years old, distilled from its Original Five Malt Mash Bill.
The cask moved quickly
It did not take long for the cask to leave its mark. Within just 28 days, the old wood had once again shaped the whiskey inside it. That is a short stretch of time in the whiskey world, where finishing periods often run much longer. It speaks to how much flavor the cask still holds after two centuries of use.
Size worked in the distillery’s favor
A color cask is far larger than the standard 53-gallon barrel common in American whiskey making. That extra size meant Copperworks had a healthy volume of whiskey to work with from this second fill.
The end of the line for whiskey
The cask already has its next job lined up. It is set to be used for a gin, which Copperworks has described as a story for another day. That decision means this second batch will be the last Color Cask whiskey the distillery produces.
Three Casks, One Final Choice
Instead of bottling the second fill as it was, Copperworks split the whiskey among three different casks for one more stage of maturation. That process is still going on.
Each cask is pushing the whiskey in its own direction. The distillery could have picked a winner behind closed doors, the way most decisions in the industry get made. Instead, it opened the process to outside palates.
Through the Color Cask Trials, participants taste all three versions as they stand right now and vote on which one should become the final release. The whiskey that wins will be the one bottled as the last Copperworks Color Cask American Single Malt Whiskey.
How the Trials Are Set Up
What participants receive
The program is built around side-by-side tasting. Each participant gets three 100ml samples, one from each of the three casks. The idea is to sample them together, compare them directly, and decide which one stands out.
Participants also receive a 700ml bottle of the winning whiskey once the votes are counted. That bottle is planned to arrive in time for Christmas.
There is also an optional tasting event, either in person or online. Attending is not required in order to vote. Copperworks has made it clear that a self-guided tasting at home counts just as much as one done in a room full of fellow voters.
Timing and voting
Voting closes on December 5. That gives participants a few weeks to taste the samples, think them over, and make their pick.
The distillery has also pointed out that there is less whiskey available for this project than for a typical single-cask release. Because of that limited supply, it is possible the final whiskey will be gone before it ever has a chance to reach store shelves.
The Seattle Tasting Night
An evening at the distillery
For those who want to experience the Trials in a group setting, Copperworks is holding a live tasting in Seattle on Tuesday, November 10, at 6 p.m. The event takes place at the Copperworks Seattle Distillery & Tasting Room at 1250 Alaskan Way.
This in-person option has to be chosen at the time someone joins the Trials. It cannot be added later.
What the night includes
Guests taste the three samples alongside other voters while enjoying light snacks. Copperworks President and Co-Founder Jason Parker will lead the evening and tell the story of the color cask. He is expected to cover what a color cask is, how Copperworks managed to get one, and what has come out of it so far.
For whiskey drinkers who enjoy the history behind what is in the glass, it is a chance to hear the story straight from one of the people who made it happen.
The Virtual Tasting
Not everyone can make it to Seattle, so Copperworks is also hosting a virtual tasting on Tuesday, November 17, at 5 p.m.
This online session is free and open to the public. Voters taste together, hear Jason Parker tell the story of the cask, and share their thoughts on which of the three might come out on top. It offers much of the same experience as the in-person event without the need to travel.
Why This Project Stands Out
Letting drinkers make the call
Most whiskey decisions happen quietly. A master distiller or blender tastes the barrels and picks what goes into the bottle. The public usually only sees the finished product.
The Color Cask Trials flip that process. The people who will end up drinking the whiskey are the ones deciding what it becomes. For longtime whiskey fans who have strong opinions about what they like in a glass, that is a rare opportunity to have a real say.
A piece of history in a glass
There is also the matter of the cask itself. A 200-year-old vessel from a Spanish bodega, once used for a sherry tradition that is fading away, has now passed its character on to two whiskeys in Seattle. After this, it moves on to gin, and the whiskey chapter closes for good.
That makes this final release something of a farewell. Whichever cask wins, the bottle will represent the end of a long and unusual journey that started in Cádiz and ended on the Seattle waterfront.
Old craft meets new
The project ties together two very different worlds. On one side is the old-world sherry trade, with its bodegas, its traditions, and its careful attention to color and consistency. On the other is American single malt, a young and growing category where distilleries like Copperworks are still finding their footing and testing new ideas.
The color cask connects the two. It carries generations of Spanish winemaking history into a modern American whiskey, and now, for one final release, it carries the opinions of the people who choose to taste it.
The Final Word Belongs to the Tasters
Copperworks has done the hard work of sourcing the cask, aging the whiskey, and setting up the final three options. What happens next is out of its hands. By December 5, the votes will be in, and one cask will be chosen as the last word on a 200-year-old piece of history.
For the distillery, it is a bold way to close out a chapter. For the people taking part, it is a chance to help decide how that chapter ends.
