A spirit of exploration animates our whiskey program. We combine a creative approach with quality ingredients and a deep commitment to the art of distilling. We love introducing grains of distinction to thoughtfully chosen casks and enjoying the relationships that result.
All of our whiskeys are single barrel releases, which means each batch is a little different. We particularly love working with rye, and we use an organic, stone milled rye in many of our whiskeys (including our 100% Rye and Sebastian’s favorite Portland Dark Roast Rye). We’ve also made spelt whiskey, millet whiskey, oat whiskey, organic bourbon from all Oregon-grown grains, whiskey from local craft beer, and even whiskey distilled from ramen noodles.
Some of our whiskeys can be found in liquor stores in Oregon and Washington. Many never leave our tasting room, and they can sell out quite quickly—it’s a good reason to come visit.
We mash, ferment, distill, and mature all our whiskeys ourselves (unless we are partnering with one of our local brewery friends). Much of grain comes from Bob’s Red Mill just a few miles down the road, or from other smaller local mills.
We use a variety of different grains, but rye is our favorite. For Sebastian, the smell of warm rye cooking in the still takes him back to the pumpernickel breads of his early childhood in Germany. All our whiskeys are distilled on our Kothe pot still to coax pure grain flavors and rich sweetness out of each batch.
Our whiskeys mature in mostly full-sized casks. We use a lot of traditional charred American white oak barrels, but we also like using French oak, Oregon oak, toasted oak, and previously used casks to give our whiskey more dimension.
There’s no set amount of time our whiskey spends in the barrel. Instead, we rely on smell and taste to decide when a whiskey is ready to bottle, and we release each cask one at a time. Once they’re gone, they’re gone.