Sample Spirits from Seattle’s New Distilleries

The recent boom in Seattle booze distillers comes thanks to the Washington State Craft Distillery Law (passed in 2008), which allows local liquor producers to offer on-site tasting and bottle sales, à la wineries—provided that at least 51 percent of the liquor ingredients are grown in state. Accordingly, a slew of recently opened distilleries now offer facility tours and tasting rooms, so you can try before you buy. Bonus points: Increase your locavore cred by ordering a drink made with local spirits at area bars that carry them. http://\/\/seattlemag.com/node/add/article

swill from the still at these LOCAL distillery tasting rooms

Sun Liquor Distillery and Bar
Capitol Hill
514 E Pike St.  
Taste: Sun Liquor gin  
Claim to fame: First Washington establishment to  be both a distillery and a bar
also poured at: Sun Liquor’s first location (bar only) at 607 Summit Ave. E  sunliquor.com

Sound Spirits
Interbay
1630 15th Ave. W taste: Ebb + Flow vodka and gin, and coming soon, aquavit
Claim to fame: Seattle’s first distillery since Prohibition
also poured at: Bars such as Rob Roy, The Hideout and Oliver’s Twist  
drinksoundspirits.com

Bainbridge Organic Distillers
Bainbridge Island
9727 Coppertop Loop NE
Taste: Legacy organic vodka, Heritage organic gin, Battle Point whiskey
Claim to fame: First organic distillery in Washington
Also poured at:  Seattle bars such as Brouwer’s Cafe, Local 360, Liberty, Mistral Kitchen, Tavern Law, and on Bainbridge at Harbour Pub and Hitchcock
bainbridgedistillers.com

Woodinville Whiskey Co.
Woodinville
16110 Woodinville Redmond Road NE
Taste: Headlong White Dog whiskey, Peabody Jones vodka, and coming soon, microbarreled bourbon, rye whiskey and American whiskey
Claim to fame: David Pickerell, former master distiller at Maker’s Mark, lends his recipes and expertise.
Also poured at: Bars such as Spur, Trellis, Liberty, Barrio and Mistral Kitchen
woodinvillewhiskeyco.com

Soft Tail Spirits
Woodinville
12280 NE Woodinville Drive
Taste: Soft Tail vodka and grappas
Claim to fame: 2010 World Spirits competition winners, for vodka (bronze medal) and grappa Sangiovese (silver)
Also poured at: Bars such as Taste, The Barking Frog, Greenlake Bar & Grill, and El Gaucho
softtailspirits.com

And the tasting rooms keep on coming! This summer, watch for Westland Distillery in South Park (9320 15th Ave. S; westlanddistillery.com), offering Gimbal Northwest dry gin and single-malt whiskey, and Oola Distillery on Capitol Hill (1413 E Union St.; ooladistillery.com), featuring small-batch gin, vodka, whiskey and a dance floor. In the fall, Batch 206 Distillery plans to open in Interbay (1417 Elliott Ave. W; batch206.com), serving vodka and gin.