This last weekend, Portlanders of all kinds had one thing on their minds—whiskey, in the form of WhiskeyFest Northwest. In only its second year, the festival has burgeoned from one day with about 60 distilleries in 2013 to two days with nearly 100 in 2014. The culminating two-day capstone to PDX Whiskey Week brought crowds of locals and visitors alike to revel and dance to live throwback music, chow down on food truck-style fare from the likes of Bunk and Pok Pok, sample a full spectrum of whiskeys local and national, and swig whiskey cocktails custom-made for the event by locals like Raven & Rose.
One booth kept busy by waves of in-and out-of-towners was Heritage Distilling Company, down for the weekend from Gig Harbor, Wash. Heritage’s Elk Rider Blended Whiskey provided a refreshingly simple middle ground between a mélange of Irish, Canadian, Scotch and American whiskey styles. Blended from Heritage’s own whiskeys, the final result is a smooth and balanced combination of disparate grain characteristics, with light wood flavor over rich caramel heat and a subtle maple sweetness. Try it in a classic Old Fashioned.
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Track on Twitter: @HeritageDistill
