Destination Craft Distilleries Around Oregon

Spiritual Sojourn

Ramble across Oregon, raising a glass to these destination-worthy craft distilleries

written by Vanessa Salvia

OREGONIANS HAVE GOOD TASTE. We embrace quality. We are known for our fine food, farmers’ markets, craft beer and exceptional wines for the same reasons as our distilled spirits, made by one of the most active artisan communities of this type in the country. Some of these spots, such as Bendistillery, which has been making Crater Lake vodka and gin since 1996, are spirits pioneers. Others, such as Gompers Distillery, which opened in Redmond in 2019, are embracing an inspirational past while planning for a potent future.

“An entrepreneurial spirit and a desire to always try and find a better way of doing things permeates everything Oregon, especially when it comes to locally made, handcrafted products,” said Alan Dietrich, CEO of Bendistillery.

A craft distillery road trip lets you taste established and experimental (or in some cases, forgotten) spirits straight from the source and experience Oregon’s beauty along the way. Whether you’re in the verdant hills of wine country, the volcanic moonscapes of Central Oregon, or the purple mountain majesty of northeastern Oregon, each stop is as memorable as the spirits you’ll taste. Take your time while visiting these distilleries. Explore and ask questions. The stories behind the distilleries are as interesting as the libations.

Rogue Spirits of Newport has an extensive whiskey enterprise, plus gin, vodka and a killer location for Pacific sunsets.

Rogue Ales & Spirits

Ewing Young Distillery (Newberg)

Ewing Young was a real person, the first distiller in the Oregon Country. He’s buried on the farm that bears his name, his grave marked by a heritage oak tree planted in 1846. The pioneers of the day wanted a temperate society, so they paid Young to quit distilling.

He used the money to commence an epic cattle drive, bringing 600 head of Mexican longhorns up from California and began breeding and selling them, meeting the demand from pioneers. This helped break the Hudson’s Bay Company’s stranglehold on trading and helped spur a flood of westward migration on the Oregon Trail. Leveraging a clause in his original agreement, he fired up his still once again.

“He changed the course of history here in Oregon,” said Bev Root, CEO and owner of Young’s eponymous distillery.

Root distills four whiskeys, two vodkas and one gin that she says are exceptionally smooth. “We focus on blending and finishing to get the flavor profiles that we want,” she said. The distillery is on a privately owned working Thoroughbred farm, where two Kentucky Derby-winning stallions live and where Root’s brother-in-law is the head veterinarian. Visitors can take a farm tour, bring a picnic and play lawn games. The tasting area is all outdoors, making it a picturesque stop on the Newberg Distillery Trail, which connects five distilleries along a 30-mile route.

Stillwagon Distillery (Florence & Charleston)

Rick Stillwagon does one thing and one thing well … smallbatch rum infused with eighteen flavors such as walnut and fig, hibiscus, and feijoa, a South American fruit grown in small quantities in the Northwest. They make their own flavor extracts and focus on sustainability by finding uses for their byproducts. Stillwagon’s rum is distilled in Charleston from blackstrap molasses and cane sugar.

Stillwagon Distillery makes rum from blackstrap molasses and cane sugar and has tasting rooms in Florence and Charleston, with steampunk and pirate-esque themes, respectively.

Stillwagon Distillery

He got his start working in aquaponics, which led to raising koi, which led to water filtration science, which led to commissioning a steam engine, which led to water distillation for a project in India, which led to—fortunately for us—distilling ethanol. Stillwagon’s also a woodworker, metalworker and tinkerer, which fits with the steampunk vibe of his Florence tasting room and the pirate-esque theme of the Charleston tasting room, where visitors can see the production process.

Rogue Spirits (Newport)

Rogue is world-renowned for its ales, but it should be known for its spirits too, which they’ve been making since 2003. “One of the best kept secrets of the spirits industry,” says Jake Holshue, head distiller. (His official title is Level 11 Spirits Wizard, and he has the beard to match). Holshue started out as a homebrewer and now runs Rogue’s extensive whiskey enterprise, plus two types of gin and a vodka.

Rogue coopers their own barrels, one of only three distillers in the country to do so (another is Jack Daniel’s). In 2019, the company launched canned cocktails, and you can take this 7½-percent, full-sized cocktail out the door. Rogue Spirits Sunset Bar across from the distillery is aptly named for its unmatched views of the sun going down over Yaquina Bay, an ideal spot for bidding adieu to a day of fun with a finely crafted cocktail.

Rogue Spirits Sunset Bar is the place to sip at sundown in Newport.

Rogue Ales & Spirits

Thinking Tree Spirits (Eugene)

“Farm to flask” distillery Thinking Tree, which sprouted up in 2017, sources nearly all of its ingredients from Willamette Valley farmers. Items that can’t be locally grown, such as molasses, are sourced from local businesses. Everything is fermented and distilled in house. Erik Chapman, distillery operations manager, is proud to say the company is woman-owned, woman-led and dedicated to supporting the local economy and local farms which also have a sustainable footprint.

Taste the terroir at Thinking Tree Spirits in Eugene, which sources ingredients from Willamette Valley farmers.

Thinking Tree

They bottle two varieties of gin, barrel-aged rum, a wheat vodka, a single malt whiskey, bourbon and several brandies. The enterprise is on “Brewery Row” in Eugene, the same street as Oakshire Brewing and Hop Valley Brewing and walking distance to Heritage Distilling Company, known for its Brown Sugar Bourbon, and Wolf Spirits Distillery, home of the award-winning Blood x Sweat x Tears Vodka. Thinking Tree bears a unique distinction in the area—a full on-premise liquor license, allowing them to serve full-size cocktails.

'Farm to flask' distillery Thinking Tree, which sprouted up in 2017, sources nearly all of its ingredients from Willamette Valley farmers. Items that can’t be locally grown, such as molasses, are sourced from local businesses.

Bendistillery (Bend and Tumalo)

In addition to vodka and gin, Bendistillery makes whiskey and rare spirits such as barley whiskey and reposado, tequila aged in oak. Bend Ale Trail destinations surround them, including next-door neighbor Deschutes Brewery, with which they frequently collaborate on innovations such as Black Butte Whiskey, distilled from the wash of Black Butte Porter.

Bendistillery is a craft spirits pioneer and makes Crater Lake Spirits Estate Rye 363.

Bendistillery

CEO Alan Dietrich revels in the company’s reputation as one of the first and most award-winning small-batch distilleries. The downtown tasting room offers an ideal entree into an evening, a great place to wait while you get texted that your table is ready at one of the nearby restaurants. Peek into the still’s operations in the Tumalo tasting room, or try oneoffs or barrels that were forgotten about in the warehouse in the downtown Bend tasting room.

“Our rare spirits collection is literally just that,” says Dietrich. “Experiments, projects that never got off the ground, or things we’re trying to get off the ground. Being in this creative market forces us to stay on the cutting edge of what’s going on and we’re always looking for ways of creating something unique that no one has probably ever had before.”

Gompers Distillery (Redmond)

Embracing the Prohibition Era at the 1920s-themed tasting room at Gompers Distillery in Redmond.

Daylene Wilkins

Jessica and Michael Hart embrace the Prohibition Era in their 1920s-themed tasting room, but it’s not just for show. Gompers is Jessica’s maiden name, and the name of her grandparents, both Holocaust survivors from Holland. Opa (grandpa) Fermin is the jaunty character on the label and the inspiration for their business. Their tasting room has a secret bookcase room, open to those paying a one-time membership fee to their Founder’s Club.

“When you walk in the door, you kind of leave everything from the 2020s behind,” said Michael. “Sometimes people dress up to come in, and I rarely even see people on their cell phones in here.” All decor is period. Even their cocktail list holds true to the 1920s. Go for the drinks, stay for the wallpaper—it’s the same gorgeous pattern as in “Boardwalk Empire.”

Glacier 45 Distillery (Baker City)

Ryan and Kaylin Chaves focus on filtration for a clean, pure flavor with their approachably priced vodka, whiskeys and flavored spirits. The couple believes everyone should be able to enjoy quality spirits— and they don’t charge for tastings. Ryan is fifth-generation of a Baker City family, and started the business in a historic building they renovated. The building still has an old-timey feel, though, even while they’ve also embraced technology such an iOS app with short videos about each spirit and drink recipes.

Glacier 45’s marketing maven Kyana Chaves and Billy Hermann, distiller and production manager, in Baker City.

Anna Clarke

Stein Distillery (Joseph and Lake Oswego)

Making vodka, rum, bourbon, whiskey and specialty spirits, Stein Distillery sources its own rye, wheat and barley from owner Dan Stein’s farm in Joseph. Corn comes from a farm in La Grande. Call ahead for distillery tours of their Joseph tasting room, done through a large window into the distilling operation. Stein opened a Lake Oswego tasting room in January 2020.

Since opening in 2009, Stein Distillery expanded into creating rye vodka, rum, bourbon barrel-aged rum, whiskey barrel-aged rum, Steinshine (made with corn and barley) and two-year, five-year, and nine-year aged whiskeys and bourbons. Sample farm-fresh flavors in their cordials made from rhubarb and berries.

Stein Distillery’s Dan Stein pauses at the production facility, which uses ingredients from his farm in Joseph.

Melissa Wagoner

Aria Gin (Portland)

Aria’s London dry-style gin is heavy on the juniper, and the vermouth barrel-aging on the reserve line adds an unusual level of complexity. Their botanicals are always fair-trade, non-GMO, sustainably harvested and nearly all are organic. Erik Martin, co-founder and distiller, said their techniques take gin into a new space. “We get vermouth barrels from Imbue Cellars and leave the gin in there just long enough to extract a hint of that French oak character, dusted with the vermouth.”

Taste their limited, special concoctions such as, for instance, a horseradish-flavored vodka. Everything on the downtown Portland tasting room cocktail menu, from spirits to ingredients to tools, is available to take home, and it’s fun to browse the barware curated by locally owned barware company Bull in China.