photo via: http://wineguyworld.blogspot.com

Yesterday, K and I finally made it down to House Spirits for a tour. We’d heard about how great the tour was from our friends L & V. And I’m glad we went because we had a great time. Our guide really knew his stuff when it came to spirits and I think we both learned a great deal about the distilling process. I also got the opportunity to try some unaged “White Dog” whisky, which I enjoyed greatly. I had never had any and if you can find it or go for the tour I recommend asking to try it. K couldn’t quite handle it but we did both get to try barrel-aged aquavit which was a treat. The barrel was French oak from a Andrew Rich pinot noir. And it had been aged for a year. The taste compared to the unoaked aquavit was remarkably different. I made out with a bottle of ouzo like one pictured above.

photo credit: House Spirits

Also, the guide mentioned that they were releasing three whiskies on Dec 12th 2009 and that House Spirits is going to host a big shindig. I recommend checking it out if you’re in the Portland area because everything I’ve had from this little crew has been AWESOME.

If you want to read more about distilling, check out this pdf.