New Billy Wheat Whiskey From McMenamins Has A Sweet Finish

Here in Portland, Oregon, where The Whiskey Wash is headquartered, is the heart of the famous McMenamins’ brewpub chain. I’ve written about them a lot before because, besides being known for tasty beers and wine, they also have a thriving spirits business. This includes whiskey, such as their very limited edition Devil’s Bit and the recently released Aval Porta apple flavored offering. Now comes word of a new bottling to their line up that’s been distilled on a “century-old Alambic still from Cognac.”

The new McMenamins Billy Whiskey is crafted in small batches at the Cornelius Pass Roadhouse Distillery, which I first learned about at the recent Oregon Distillers Festival. It is important to note it was distilled and aged at this location because, to date, all of the aged whiskey for McMenamains was made at its much more well known Edgefield Distillery. Now the guys behind the still at CPR, as locals call it, have something they can show off with pride as well.

As I was saying, Billy Whiskey, which was released earlier this month, was double distilled from a wheat wash on an old Charente Alambic still from the Cognac region of France. It was then aged for two and a half years in lightly-charred American oak barrels. The resulting product is said to have a “full-bodied, sweet finish” and complex flavor profile.