PAI D ADV ERTI SEMENT
You Can Now
Literally Drink Oregon
Eastside Distilling ’s newly reinvented
whiskey and bourbon has been aged in a
special oak you can only find on the west
side of the Cascade Range, primarily in the
Willamette Valley..
Despite what you may have heard,
Burnside Street is not named after
Ambrose Burnside. The Union General
with legendary mutton-chops had no
connection to our then-nascent riverport.
Burnside Street is actually named after
some dude named David Burnside. That’s
why Eastside Distilling is changing their
beloved Burnside Bourbon—and the sepia-
toned photo of General Burnside on its
label—to make it all about Portland and the
rare Oregon oak.
Beginning this fall, three of Eastside’s
whiskeys will see their bottles remodeled.
These changes won’t be subtle. Civil War
imagery is biting the dust in the alcohol
industry, as well as in parks across the
country.
The new Burnside Oregon Oaked Bourbon
will have a label that drops old man Burn,
opting instead for a vintage chic. The new
colors will be a teal and red reminiscent of
the art deco towers on the Burnside Bridge.
Likewise, you might recognize some local
geography in Burnside’s Goose Hollow
RSV Bourbon and its West End Blend.
That curly-tailed “R” on the label is pulled
straight from the Roseland Theater sign.
These changes are a continuation of
Eastside Distilling’s dedication to making
small batch, hand-crafted spirits with true
local flavor. Inspired by Oregon’s original
winemakers in the 70s, Eastside Distilling
has utilized barrels of Quercus Garryana
—more commonly known as Oregon Oak—
to finish whiskey since 2012. And now all
Eastside’s whiskey will receive this special
touch.
Our native oak can only be found in a few
places in the world. The Willamette Valley
is one of them, which is why Southeast
Portland distillery might just have the
largest collection of Oregon oak casks of
any distillery today. Quercus Garryana
is soft, white oak containing unique
tannins, including an unusually high
amount of vanillin. The Garryana aging
lends a smoother finish to Eastside’s
blended bourbon. These six new small
batch whiskeys will each be a different
expression of this essentially Oregon
flavor.
Eastside doesn’t view this as innovation so
much as dedication to, sorry for the pun, its
roots. Burnside bourbon is all about pride
in one’s place. Prize winning Bourbon made
for Portlanders—and, well, anyone with a
discerning palate—from the wood the spirit
is barrelled in, right down to the label.
Willamette Week October 11, 2017 wweek.com
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