WHAT DO WE WANT?
When trying to gain a better understanding of the commodity barley (specifically) system in America, I couldn’t think of a better person to discuss it with than Matt Hofmann, managing director and co-founder of Westland Distillery.
The team at the Washington State-based distillery has taken bold steps to move out of the commodity system when sourcing the barley for its whiskey, allowing for the taste of provenance that Westland has become synonymous with.
What became clear during our discussion is the fact that there is a place for both sides of the commodity coin; it heavily depends on the distillery objective. However, before we can delve into the aforementioned objectives, let’s find out a little more about the commodity system in relation to whiskey.
Could you start by giving us a brief background on the commodity system?
