Olympia getaway: 18 craft distillers gather for first-time spirits weekend

February showers got you down? March promises blooms – and booze. We’re pretty stoked about a first-time craft spirits gathering hosted by the Washington Distiller’s Guild that will include everything from organic liqueurs to vodka filtered through the region’s historic sandstone quarries.

South Sound Spirits Gathering on Saturday, March 12 will feature 18 of the state’s top distillers serving sips of their finest craft spirits paired with bites from local (that’s Thurston County) restaurants and bars. The main event place from 4 to 9 p.m. at the Olympic Flight Museum but there is a weekend full of activities – tasting room tours, distiller meet and greets, even a Moonshine 101 class – in this burgeoning hub of craft distilleries. Tickets are $35-$40 and can be purchased through Brown Paper Tickets.

Tumwater hotels like La Quinta Inn & Suites, Best Western or Guesthouse Inn & Suites will offer free transportation to the South Sound Spirits Gathering between 3:30 and 9:30 p.m. You can also organize a custom tour by Lifestyle Valet. A few standout activities:

Moonshine 101 (distilling basics, booze, and a T-shirt) will take place at Blind Pig Spirits, which recently opened a tasting room in downtown Olympia. Blind Pig makes five small batch spirits including an Apple Pie Moonshine and Single Malt Vodka.

Learn about the history of sandstone quarries in the region at Sandstone Distillery in Tenino. Distiller John Bourdon cold-filters his vodka through fractured sandstone to yield a clean, crisp spirit.

Liqueur lovers will relish a visit to Salish Sea Organic Liqueurs in the Lacey Libation District. The distillers handcraft more than 20 flavors of small-batch organic liqueurs, from sage to honeysuckle.

Here is a full list of participating distillers: 

3 Howls Distillery
Batch 206 Distillery
Black Sam Bellamy Distillery
Blackfish Spirits Distillery
Blind Pig Spirits
Captive Spirits Distilling
Copperworks Distilling Co
Heritage Distilling Co.
Letterpress Distilling
Salish Sea Organic Liqueurs
Sandstone Distillery
Seattle Distilling
Skip Rock Distillers
Sound Spirits
Temple Distilling Company
The Hardware Distillery Co.
Whiskey Gap Distillery
Wishkah River Distillery