McMenamins 2019 Devil’s Bit Whiskeys Continue St. Patrick’s Tradition

The passage of whiskey time here in Portland, Oregon, where The Whiskey Wash is headquartered, is marked in one way each year by the debut of the Devil’s Bit whiskey on St. Patrick’s Day from brewpub chain McMenamins. We’ve chronicled each release for 2014, 2015, 2016, 2017 and also last year. Now we are on to 2019 and, as usual, the limited edition offerings have us ready to open our wallets to buy some.

The 2019 McMenamins Devil’s Bit Irish whiskeys represent the third year in this ongoing series that a whiskey is being released from each of the two distilleries owned by McMenamins. The details on each you’ll find below – it should be noted that, this time around, the Cornelius Pass Roadhouse distillery’s bottle has a different label look, likely to help distinguish it from the one released from the Edgefield distillery.

• Cornelius Pass Roadhouse Devil’s Bit: Devils Bit originated after many of trials and errors when CPR’s distillery first opened in 2011. Bits and pieces were left after one of these trials, so – in the spirit of experimentation – they were redistilled, blended, and aged seven years for our very first batch of Devils Bit. Now our “mistake” is a delicious tradition. This year’s Bit greets the nose with sweet caramel, oat hay, barrel spice and vanilla, followed by a soft feel, light body, growing spice and gentle warming on the palate. Finishing light and clean, the last bits fade into a dry, mineral aftertaste.
• Edgefield Devil’s Bit: From the Edgefield Distillery comes a very special offering to the Devils Bit Whiskey label. This year’s Bit was distilled from a base of soft winter wheat and barley and aged seven years in a heavily toasted, lightly charred, American white oak barrels. The nose is full of baking bread notes, toasty oak and butterscotch. The palate is warm and easy, with a gentle finish. A wave of buttery toffee comes through, followed by pepper spice and toast.

The Cornelius whiskey will cost $23 per 200 ml bottle, and is bottled at 50% ABV. The Edgefield bottling, meanwhile, is the same price for the same bottle size, and is bottled at 46% ABV. Both are available on St. Patrick’s Day only at their respective distilleries, as well as select locations around the McMenamins empire. Perhaps the best way to snag a bottle of each is to hit up the release at their main bottle shop.