Deschutes Brewery and Bendistillery Releases 2017 Black Butte Whiskey
Today Deschutes Brewery and Bendistillery will release the second bottling of its Black Butte Whiskey. Originally launched in September 2016, Black Butte Whiskey is the proud collaboration of a true Oregon distilled whiskey from prominent players in brewing and distilling.
Bottles of the 2017 vintage of Black Butte Whiskey will go on sale today, Wednesday, December 6th beginning at 4:00pm at Bendistillery’s Crater Lake Spirits Downtown Tasting Room located at 1024 NW Bond Street, Bend, Oregon. There will also be tastings from 4:00-11:00pm at the Deschutes Brewery Portland Public House located at 210 NW 10th Avenue, Portland, Oregon.
Black Butte Whiskey is an ongoing collaboration between Deschutes and Bendistillery. It is an American malt whiskey distilled from the wash of Deschutes Brewery’s famed Black Butte Porter beer. Deschutes will be selling the 2017 edition by the glass at their Bend and Portland pubs over the course of the coming year while supplies last. It will also be available at the brewery’s new PDX Airport pub when it opens next year.
Additional Info: Deschutes Brewery & Bendistillery Release Black Butte Whiskey
Black Butte Whiskey is double distilled and aged in new #4 char new American oak barrels. The resulting spirit is a complex whiskey that retains the malty, chocolatey notes of Black Butte Porter and finishes with the soft, nearly sweet character that has become the hallmark of spirits made with the water from the Cascade Mountains of Central Oregon. The idea for the whiskey began nearly 20 years ago as an ongoing conversation over beers between Jim Bendis, founder of Bendistillery and Gary Fish, founder of Deschutes Brewery.
“It all started when I distilled and barreled a small batch of Deschutes’ Black Butte Porter beer as an experiment,” said Bendis in a release. “We all had forgotten about the project until we ran across that original single barrel when we moved the distillery. Tasting that spirit is what really inspired us to collaborate with Deschutes. It brings happy tears to my eyes to see how this 20-year-old dream is now a product so well received and highly anticipated.”
“This whiskey is more about an opportunity to innovate at a new level by elevating the beer and creating a very different product altogether,” said Fish in a release. “This is what can happen when you’re having fun and not bound by convention!”
The Portland release at the Deschutes Brewery Portland Public House will feature 1.5oz drams of Black Butte Whiskey. There will not be any bottles sales of the whiskey. The very limited amount of bottles available in the marketplace will only be sold at the Bendistillery Tasting Room in Bend. Last year a small amount of bottles made its way to Oregon liquor stores but this will not be the case for the 2017 vintage.
About The Author
DJ
D.J. is a Portland, Oregon based writer that spent his formative years in the Midwest. With over 25 years under his belt of drinking beer at festivals across America and the world, he has developed a strong appreciation and understanding of craft beer and the industry that surrounds it. He can be found in any of the great breweries or beer bars that make Portland the best beer city in the world. His writing can also be found in the archives of Northwest Brewing News and can be followed on Twitter and Instagram at @hopapalooza.
Where this whiskey is amazing the roll out is abysmal, last year the distillery was selling cases and at the price i dont see how people afforded it anyway, so there wasn’t any way a late comer would have been able to get a bottle anyway.
Try a better tactic.
I agree, obtaining a bottle last year was a challenge. I was able to track one bottle down in Portland the day it was released.
Yes it is very limited on bottle sales but as the article suggests Deschutes is attempting to keep enough bottles of the Black Butte Whiskey to be served over the coming year at its pubs in Portland and Bend.