Thieves steal $1M worth of craft whiskey from Washington distillery

Thieves who made off with 12,000 bottles of craft whiskey in a rare U.S. liquor heist this summer did more than just snag nearly $1 million worth of product — they also spirited away nearly half the stock of a single malt distillers had worked for more than a decade to make

Thieves who made off with 12,000 bottles of craft whiskey in a rare U.S. liquor heist this summer did more than just snag nearly $1 million worth of product — they also spirited away nearly half the stock of a single malt distillers had worked for more than a decade to make.

Now the Skagit Valley Sheriff's Office is investigating, and whiskey aficionados are wondering if — and where — the coveted bottles of Westland Distillery's first 10-year Garryana whiskey might turn up.

The bottles disappeared July 31, when someone in a freight truck showed up at Westland Distillery's warehouse in Burlington, Washington, holding the paperwork that purportedly gave them the right to pick up a shipment of Westland single malt, Watchpost blended, and Garryana whiskies bound for New Jersey.

But the bottles never arrived at their intended destination, and the "sophisticated, fraudulent carrier scheme" was discovered a week later, said Jason Moore, the managing director of the Seattle-based distillery.

The 10th anniversary edition bottles of Garryana are irreplaceable, said Moore.