McCarthy’s Oregon Single Malt Whiskey is of the Islay tradition of Scotch whisky. Of well-known single malts from Scotland, it resembles the Lagavulin whisky. Made from peat-malted barley brought in from Scotland, this whiskey would be a single malt Scotch if Oregon were Scotland. Production is very limited because what distillery puts in the barrel doesn’t come out for years.

It is very peat-y. Widmer Brothers ferments the peat-malted barley into a "wash” or unhopped beer. This whiskey is distilled in Holstein pot stills using one pass distillation. MOreover, distillery makes a small "heads” cut and a fairly large "tails” cut and puts about 4 liters of tails into the next still run. The proof at time of distillation is about 150 (75%). Then distillery reduces in proof and barrel-age the rough distillate in old sherry casks. All the Oregon Single Malt now spends some time in barrels made from air-dried Oregon Oak. The present bottling is only 3 years old but we think it is remarkably smooth for such a young whiskey. The result is a smooth, peat-y whiskey with a surprisingly clean finish.