Eau de Vie in the Rose City
By Tom Allan
Northwest Portland is an interesting neighborhood.
Here you can find old stone homes a block away from industrial
properties, which in turn are just around the corner from quaint
coffee shops and boutiques. It is well known as a home of good beer,
with McMenamin’s and Rogue taverns scattered among many other
watering holes. A lesser-known fact is that NW Portland is also home
to an award-winning distillery.
Clear Creek Distillery, founded 20+ years ago by distiller Steve
McCarthy, resides in an unassuming 1-story building that might be
mistaken for a dental clinic from the outside. There is a locked
metal gate at the entrance, a small sign, and a doorbell. I remember
that gate well, as I stared longingly through it the day after
Thanksgiving after being told that tastings were offered by
appointment only. The horror. 200 miles from home, my throat dry and
legs tired after a painful experiment with public transportation, I
sulked away to drown my sorrows at the Rogue brewery.
 I,
however, am not easily kept out. A month later I was back, and this
time with an appointment! It was well worth the wait and my two
trips down from Kirkland, WA. Our guide, Elizabeth, greeted us and
told us the story of Clear Creek. She then quickly moved on to the
product.
At this point I should offer the disclaimer that I am not an
expert in judging brandy or grappa, but I know what I like. These
opinions are my own, but you can find more detailed tasting notes
(and some professional evaluations) at the
Clear Creek website.
Elizabeth started us with the flagship product of the distillery,
their pear brandy
Eau de Vie de Poire Williams ($34.95 750ml). It takes 28
pounds of Williams pears to make one bottle, and you can smell all
of them in the glass. It is often difficult to detect the underlying
fruit in Eau-de-Vie, but not here. Pear dominates on both the nose
and the palate.
Next came
Eau de Vie de Pomme ($39.95 750ml), an apple brandy aged 8
years in old Cognac
 oak
barrels. Like the pear brandy the fruit is obvious everywhere, even
after the extended aging. A smooth and classy treat.
A
Blue Plum Brandy (slivovitz) ($39.95 750ml) rounded out my
selection of fruit brandies. This one is soft & fruity (but
certainly not sweet), and distilled in the traditional eastern
European style. Oregon-grown Italian blue plums power this aromatic
refresher.
So, I must confess that I have never been much of a grappa fan. I
know there are great grappas in this world, but the few I have
tasted may as well have been grain alcohol in a pretty bottle.
 However,
after three fine brandies on this grey day I was feeling a bit
emboldened. I asked to try Steve’s
Grappa Moscato ($39.95 750ml), made from the pressed stems &
seeds of the Muscat grape. Have you also been scared away from
grappa in the past? If so, try this one to bring you back to the
familia! Very floral, with actual flavors to savor and a clean
finish.
The
Grappa Pinot Noir ($39.95 750ml) is of a more traditional
style than the muscat, but still very flavorful without the mallet
to the palate alcoholic attack of other grappas. It is made from the
pomace of Oregon’s St. Innocent Blanc de Noir.
 My
personal favorite was
McCarthy's Oregon Single Malt ($39.95 750ml). Fans of the
smoked peat character of Islay and coastal single malts will be
surprised by this one. The astringent peat nose comes from the
imported peat-malted barley which is used by Widmer Bros Brewing to
brew a scotch wash exclusively for Clear Creek. Our guide asked me
to guess the age of the whiskey and I was at a loss. In fact, we
were drinking three-year-old single malt that tasted much older. The
distillery was sold out of their bottles, but Elizabeth was kind
enough to fill three bottles for us straight from the tank (after
proofing of course). We couldn’t pass up the opportunity to have
these fresh bottles signed by their maker & namesake, Steve
McCarthy.
The tasting was almost over, but we saved a couple of interesting
items for last. Eau de Vie of Douglas Fir ($49.95 375ml) is
not something you will find produced anywhere outside of these
walls. It is an eau de vie flavored with the soft tips of spring
growth plucked from Oregon Douglas fir trees. The flavor is subtle
at first, but lingers. It seems to me there is a fabulous Fir drink
recipe out there waiting to be written. Our guide agrees and
suggests a name: The Firtini.
We closed with a Loganberry Liqueur ($21.95 375ml). This
is the only liqueur made at the distillery and is the product of a
two-week loganberry infusion method. It is thick and concentrated, a
far cry from the 150 proof neutral grape spirits that form its base.
You can find many of Clear Creek’s products in Oregon liquor
stores and restaurants. There is limited availability in select
Washington liquor stores and also in California. For Washington
residents, go to
http://www.liq.wa.gov/services/brandsearch.asp and type in
Clear Creek to find stores that carry their products and pricing
information. And, of course, you can visit the crew at the
distillery and buy directly from them.
The 411
Clear Creek Distillery
1430 NW 23rd Avenue
Portland, OR 97210
MAP
Phone: 503-248-9470
www.clearcreekdistillery.com
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