Sip Northwest, Fall 2018

70 BRANDY D O U B L E G O L D Fremont Mischief Urban Foraged Apple Seattle Rich baked apples give a backbone to the rather sweet full nose om fi rst whiff So its a bit surprising when the honey colored spirit greets the tongue with a great tartness and leaves the sweetness behind Aged in a port wine cask a bit of blackberry and tannin come through mid palate sealing with a little smoke 25 375ml fremontmischief com G O L D Solar Spirits Distillery Cherry 45 S I L V E R Up North Distillery Apple 26 B R O N Z E DW Distilling Walla Walla Brandy Buty Semillon 38 JUDGES PICKS DW Distilling Walla Walla Brandy Dowsett Gewürztraminer 38 375ml Solar Spirits Distillery Cranberry 45 Up North Distillery 3 Year Barrel Aged Apple 41 COME ON OVER Distilleries Worth Stopping By Victoria Distillers SIDNEY BC Waterfront location Check Comprehensive tours with exclusive tastings of spirits Check A cocktail bar featuring all those spirits on premise Bonus Victoria Distillers moved into its sweet Sidney digs in 2016 to accommodate the demand for its gins including the brightly purple hued Empress 1908 Gin vodka and other spirits made in a copper still Weekend tours and tastings are best fi nished off with some time spent in the cocktail lounge for additional um education victoriadistillers com Sidetrack Distillery KENT WA Part farm part distillery the idyllic landscape of Sidetrack is a perfect road trip destination just south of Seattle There youll be greeted by orchards of fruit used in the small batch family operation From growing to picking pressing fermenting and distilling the husbandand wife run distiller does it all Taste through the exceptional fruit liqueurs sample rare fl avors like yuzu and beet and learn about the passion they put into every bottle Plus there are three excellent farm dogs to make the experience that much better sidetrackdistillery com Amalga Distillery JUNEAU AK Next time youre thinking about a far fl ung trek to taste local spirits dont overlook Alaska Owned by a couple that got married in the distillery right before they opened it in 2017 Amalga makes super fl avorful gin from locally foraged ingredients like spruce tip devils club rhubarb and coriander Juneau s fi rst distillery the on premise bar features cocktails on tap made with the good stuff Plus a whiskey made with Alaskan barley is coming in 2020 amalgadistillery com Central City Brewers Distillers SURREY BC You know what they say about beer before liquor but forget all that Originally a brewery Central City started distilling quality spirits fi ve years ago in the southern British Columbia space Take a weekend tour to get the inside scoop not just on the award winning beers but also a look into the distilling process Using three German imported stills the team makes vodka gin and whisky with local ingredients like Canadian barley centralcitybrewing com FRUIT LIQUEUR D O U B L E G O L D Skip Rock Distillers Raspberry Snohomish WA If you could bottle the moment eshly picked summer raspberries are plunged into a heat bath to make jam youd have this ode to yielding red berries Theres plenty of tartness left on the tongue yet absent is the typical cloying syrupiness o en in uit liqueurs The clean brightness has hints of sea salt air and a bit of green undertone 22 skiprockdistillers com G O L D Crescendo Spirits Limoncello 30 S I L V E R Up North Distillery Big Kid Cider 20 B R O N Z E Crescendo Spirits Grapefruit Pompelmocello 30 JUDGES PICKS Central City Brewers Distillers Peeled Orange 28 Admiralty Distillers Plum Gin 34 375ml Sidetrack Distillery Blackberry 21 375ml S I P N O R T H W E S T C O M