When you open the doors to Freeland Spirits ’ tasting room, you quickly get the sense that something special is growing. Stylish art deco wallpaper depicts spikes of grain, and in the window, vibrant plants partake in the sunlight — fittingly, you’re also there to drink up.
Distillery tours at the Northwest Portland production facility are offered every Friday and Sunday at 3 p.m. For $30, guests are given a behind-the-scenes look at how Freeland Spirits crafts its small-batch gins + whiskeys, and are treated to “The Whole Line Up” tasting flight .
PDXtoday recently joined the fun, but we won’t spoil the whole experience. Here’s just a skosh to sip on.
- Freeland Spirits is named after founder Jill Kuehler’s meemaw (that’s “grandma” in Texas) — a woman who never touched a drop of liquor in her life, but knew the value of building things from scratch and forging one’s own path. The logo is an homage to her independent soul.
- Flavor is paramount for master distiller Molly Troupe . Although many components can be heat distilled, a rotary evaporator is used to cold distill fresh ingredients like cucumber, mint, rosemary, and thyme, extracting a more pure essence. “We’re the only distillery in the world that we know of that uses a combo of the two processes,” Jill says.
- Less than 2% of distilleries in the world are owned + operated by women like Freeland Spirits.
- Most production goes through a 500-gallon still from Germany, humorously nicknamed “Hell Bitch” after a wild horse from the old Western show “Lonesome Dove .”
- The London-style dry gin leans into the (legally required) juniper berries, plus citrus peel and mulled spices. It’s also Navy Strength, a reference to when booze was historically used to help light ships’ cannons. At a potent 57% ABV, it will certainly blow you away.
- The signature, custom-made bottle was designed by Dando Projects , as both a literal take on the PNW rain + reverent tribute to the Pearl District’s Teardrop Lounge , an early testing ground for the product.
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for some libation inspiration — we’re big fans of the lavender gimlet.