Search Craft Spirits and Distilleries in Portland
Portland's craft distilling era has come of age — discover distilleries in Portland, sample craft spirits and indulge in the city’s best cocktails.
Not to be outdone by the city’s famous craft beer scene, craft spirits in Portland are a vibrant culture all their own. Most of the city’s spirits are made in two compact collections of distilleries, one each in Southeast and Northwest Portland. Pay them a visit to experience exciting new flavors and tour production facilities, or enjoy craft spirits at the city’s top-notch cocktail bars.
Distilleries & Cocktail Bars in Portland
Find top spots to enjoy craft spirits and cocktails all across the City of Roses.
Distilleries in Portland
The Central Eastside’s Distillery Row
The epicenter of Portland’s thriving craft distillery movement, the Central Eastside is home to a community of independent, small-batch spirit makers who put Portland on the map of liquor connoisseurs — and put great bottles on the shelves of bartenders worldwide.
New Deal Distillery
New Deal Distillery was the first distillery to open in the area we now call Distillery Row, way back in 2004. Distiller and co-founder Tom Burkleaux started out with vodkas — still a New Deal specialty — and has since branched out to offer whiskey, gin, brandy, a range of liqueurs and more. Try the spicy Hot Monkey Pepper Vodka, flavored with Southwestern chili peppers, or sample the premixed Driftwood Manhattan.
Westward Whiskey
This venerable distillery was another early presence on Distillery Row; they debuted their acclaimed Aviation American Gin in 2006, and its massive popularity helped cement Portland as a spirits city. Aviation was acquired by Davos Brands in 2016, and Westward Whiskey now focuses on small-batch, single-malt whiskeys in a variety of robust styles: stout cask, pinot noir cask, cask strength and more. Each offers something a little different, but they all have one thing in common: bold, balanced flavors that whiskey connoisseurs will love.
Wild Roots Spirits
Savor the fruity flavors of fresh berries from Oregon’s Willamette Valley with a bottle of Wild Roots Spirits. These all-natural infused spirits are filtered five times and infused with real Pacific Northwest fruit, building intense, unique flavors. Options include Marionberry, apple and cinnamon, red raspberry, cranberry, pear and peach.
Stone Barn Brandyworks
Husband-and-wife team Sebastian and Erika Degens of Stone Barn Brandyworks craft seasonal, fruit-based liqueurs, European-style brandies and barrel-aged whiskeys. Stone Barn’s year-round offerings include apricot, walnut and haskap liqueurs. Seasonal products like strawberry liqueur and plum brandy reflect the bounty of the local harvest.
Northwest Distilleries
Portland has boomed in recent years, and the craft spirits scene has followed suit. Distillery Row has now grown to encompass a range of additional distilleries, most of which are conveniently located in Northwest/Nob Hill. The Northwest Distiller’s District is another craft spirits hub that demands a visit, with a variety of top-notch distilleries within walking distance of each other.
Freeland Spirits
Native Texan Jill Kuehler opened Freeland Spirits, Oregon’s first women-owned and run distillery, in 2017. The brand launched with its signature teardrop-shaped bottles of small-batch gin, distilled in a traditional copper pot with 13 different dried botanicals (including pink peppercorn, coriander and star anise). In November 2018, Freeland Spirits debuted its first whiskey, made in charred oak barrels and pinot noir barrels from the Pacific Northwest. Freeland offers tours and tastings on select days at their Northwest Portland headquarters, a modern industrial space as thoughtfully designed as their gorgeous bottles.
Bull Run Distillery
Created by acclaimed Portland distiller Lee Medoff, Bull Run Distillery looks for raw ingredients with a focused flavor. Their two 800-gallon (3 cbm) stills are the largest in the state, in keeping with Medoff’s dream of putting Oregon on the distilling map with an Oregon whiskey. They also make vodka, aquavit, rum, gin and more.
Aria Gin
A small-batch gin distillery, Aria Gin uses traditional British ingredients and the London Dry style to craft their classic English-inspired gin. The distillery’s experts combine ingredients like juniper, coriander, cardamom, lemon peel and angelica root to craft their gin, which can be sampled plain or mixed into a cocktail at their Northwest Portland tasting room.
Aviation American Gin
Aviation American Gin’s 33,000-square-foot (3,066 sq m) facility opened in 2022 — take a tour to see how this complex, smooth spirit is made, or stop by their tasting room for a cocktail and a bottle to go. Need more convincing? Aviation is co-owned by actor Ryan Reynolds, and his playful sense of humor pervades the distillery — the tour even ends with an escape-room experience in Reynolds’ office.
Spirits-Centric Shopping & Gifts
Score gifts like bottles, bitters and syrups for the cocktail enthusiast in your life.
Cocktails in Portland
Cocktail Bars
As if a world-renowned restaurant scene weren’t enough, Portland has become one of America’s most vibrant cocktail destinations, drawing top-tier mixologists from around the country. One of the pioneers of fine cocktails in the Rose City is the Teardrop Lounge — known for launching the careers of some of the city’s best bartenders and a vast menu covering classic drinks and house creations, you just can’t get a bad drink at this Pearl District staple. Northeast Portland’s Expatriate opened in 2013 and made an immediate impact on the cocktail scene, offering delicious libations, an excellent bar menu and timeless style. The vibe at Bible Club is Southern speakeasy, with Prohibition-era cocktails that will transport your taste buds back in time, including a selection of non-alcoholic options.
Just getting into town, or headed home (too soon), but still in the mood for a beverage? Award-winning Portland International Airport is full of unique flourishes, including post-security outposts of popular Portland distilleries: Pay a visit to Freeland Spirits in the North Concession Hall, near Concourse D, for gin, whiskey and perfectly balanced cocktails, or find Straightaway Cocktails in the South Concession Hall, near Concourse C, and enjoy easy-drinking “Shortie” cocktails and more robust cocktail flights.
Top Cocktail Bars
From subterranean speakeasies to hip neighborhood watering holes, these bars are local favorites.
Portland’s Best Cocktails
Huber’s Cafe’s Spanish Coffee
Downtown establishment Huber’s Cafe is Portland’s oldest restaurant and bar, and ordering the signature Spanish coffee will afford you some old-world flair. Expect a theatrical table-side preparation in which overproof rum and triple sec are set aflame before Kahlúa, coffee and cream are added. The drink and its presentation have become so popular that Huber’s has become “the largest buyer of Kahlúa in Oregon.”
Driftwood Room’s Elizabeth Taylor
The wood paneling and mid-century decor at Hotel deLuxe’s old-school bar might seem most appropriate for sipping a martini or a Manhattan, but don’t pass over the specialty Champagne cocktails at the Driftwood Room. The most eye-catching on the list is the delicate Elizabeth Taylor, which features crème de violette, a deep purple liqueur made with violet flowers.
Hale Pele’s Volcano Bowl
A good tiki bar embraces over-the-top, sugary kitsch in the decor but not in the drinks, making the Volcano Bowl at tropical oasis Hale Pele the perfect tiki cocktail. While you might feel a little silly sipping from an enormous flaming group drink with friends (or a cute date), the balanced concoction of grapefruit, lime, aged rum and allspice — adapted from an original recipe by none other than the grandfather of tiki himself, Donn Beach — will ensure you don’t care.
Portland Bars
Explore more Portland watering holes and find the perfect bar for the occasion.
Was this page helpful?