Eastside Distilling

Did a little search for a distillery to bring home some local spirits to NC. I love my Captain Morgan’s so I chose the Spiced rum. I was given a sample and had great flavor and not sugary like captain’s and very smooth.
Can’t wait to get it home this weekend, crack it open and enjoy it with some coke or ginger ale. Staff was very friendly and knowledgeable about the product and look forward to future visits to try other spirits.

I did a tasting here with a friend. None of the liquors were memorable to me. I got a bottle of the marionberry whisky for my dad and he liked it ok. The guy helping us was super friendly and knowledgeable though.

We had a great experience here. All the staff was very knowledgable and super friendly. We did the sampling and were impressed with the whiskey and bourbons.

Purchased a Living Social coupon for a private tasting for 10. Our host, Amanda, was just AMAZING. So knowledgeable about all the products and did a great job educating and entertaining us and putting up with our rowdiness :-). I liked everything she poured with the bourbons being my favorites. She made us all killer cocktails at the end of the tasting. Ended up purchasing 3 bottles. Will definitely be back. So many establishments sell Living Social coupons and providing lackluster experiences. Not the case with Eastside Distilling! Thanks Amanda and ES for a fabulous time!

Came here tonight and it was amazing! Very friendly service, the vodka, whiskey, and rum were all really good, and even the music station they had on was good. Will def be coming back.

We had a Groupon for the premium tasting. Staff was super friendly and knowledgeable. I liked everything we tried and even purchased a couple of bottles. Highly recommend this place!

Of the 8 distilleries we hit up, this one was our favorite and probably the biggest of them all. When you first walk in there is a small room with benches and chairs, plus two tasting spots and then you can walk through another room with even more space!
The tasting guide was awesome, he had a sweet mustache and super friendly. He was very informed and told the stories of each alcohol really well. The tastings are choose 6 of 14. They stack the bottles from left to right on how you should try it because some flavors won’t be as big of you try something else first. Good idea.
A bonus? They have pretzels! Only place with snacks to eat between the tastings and it’s something so simple that each place should have! We were allowed to use our $ 5 coupon on a bottle so we were stoked. My +1 loved the Bourbon so we got a bottle of it.
Definite spot to hit if you’re in the area.

What a cool place to explore! Our concierge told us about distillery row, and so glad they did! They had so many different choices of liquors, all fantastic! We went in December so enjoyed treats like spiked eggnog, holiday spirit and peppermint bark… omg. you must try the coffee rum, unreal! Make sure you plan to buy a bottle to waive your tasting. Great people there behind the bar!

A bit of a dingy room, but hot damn is the booze ever fantastic!
Bestie and got to try every type of booze they had, and thank god for the pretzels they had because I would have been tiiiipsy without them! The woman helping us was knowledgeable and friendly, and it was nice to be in the tasting room alone for the first part of the tasting — it got a bit cramped when more folks arrived!
I really enjoyed most of the liquors we tried, there were a lot of complex flavours going on, and lots to love! I ended up taking home a bottle of their whiskey, and it is disappearing much faster than I’d like! I’d definitely stop by on my next trip through town.

So their commercial is tits. Then seductive face. Then scantily clothed body shot. It’s alcohol: if you can’t sell it without a woman degrading herself, you know it’s shitty alcohol.

Had a great experience at this location. Tried all varieties from their potato vodka to the coffee rum (surprisingly delicious!!) The presenter is very informative and friendly and the buddy I was with purchased 3 bottles and she decided to not charge us for any of the tastings she gave us!
However, this distillery recently moved into a second location where they actually distill. This is just a tasting location. Would have liked to take a tour of the process and see how they make the varieties of spirits they have. Looking on their website we saw a second location, but no mention of the move of their equipment.

New Barrel Hitch is awesome. Wonderfully smooth. Very clean taste. Zero bite. Great sipper straight from the freezer or with a few ice cubes.

Given the choice between 20 chicken nuggets at McDonalds or a tasting at Eastside Distilling… it’s obvious I’d go with the latter. Eastside Distilling has two counters for tasting. Double the fun? I think so!
For $ 5, you get to try six of their alcohols. Pick wisely! Or if you want to opt out of the tasting, get one of their cocktails. You won’t regret it… promise! :)
— Burnside Bourbon
— Burnside Oregon Oaked Bourbon
— Cherry Bomb Whiskey
— Portland Potato Vodka
— Bloe Deck Ginger Rum
— Below Deck Coffee Rum
— Below Deck Silver Rum
— Below Deck Spiced Rum
— Oregon Marionberry Whiskey
I was a huge fan of the Cherry Bomb Whiskey, Below Deck Spiced Rum, and the Oregon Marionberry Whiskey.

Janelle is the most amazing host and did a great job explaining the different tastings. Wonderful place and highly recommend!

We did the $ 5 flight, which lets you try samples of 5 liquors that they make. All were really good quality, and I liked the 4-​year bourbon so much I bought a bottle. Really friendly staff as well.

Went in to buy some of their great Vodka and ended up hanging out for a tasting and the Thursday cocktail. I was served by Miss Laura and Miss Shasta (new on the job) and had a great time. I opted for a vodka martini made by Laura and it was perfect.
The booze are great and the gals are really good salesmen.

This was a fun place to go. Its over the river from where I was staying so I took a cab and had no problem getting one to return. I did the 10 dollar tasting and enjoyed how well the staff knew the liquor and could explain the process. They were helpful when I called to make sure they were open and they suggested other places to go eat and helped me by giving me a cab number to call after I had dinner next store.
I give them a 4 out 5 because I thought there would be more to do here. it was tasting and not a tour or anything else. They said they offered mixed drinks but I am not sure where you sit to drink them. definitely worth the trip and they are open later than the other distilleries in town.

These folks are in a new location so the front store is still in set up mode. While the store may be a work in progress the products are well developed. They do a wonderful job of educating you during a taste testing. Finally as a long time drinker of whiskers, vodka and rum I can attest the quality of their liquor. Prices are excellent for these locally crafted products.

We really wanted to go on the Distillery Tour but it was pretty late on a Sunday so we thought we better just stick to this place. :) There was one group ahead of us finishing up their «taste». You get 6 tastes for 5.00 or you can include a premium bourbon for 3 dollars more.
We were offered drinks from the menu while we waited our turn for the taste and we split a Red Dawn which was REALLY good and I am gonna try to whip this one up at home.
We shared our turn with another group of 3. Our liqueur presenter was Mary and she was funny and did a great job of describing all of the various offers.
We ended up getting a bottle of the Burnside Oregon Oaked Bourbon which was aged 2 yrs and 3 months. It was sooo smooth and yummy.
We also really loved the Coffee flavored rum.
We did not go on the tour part but I’m sure they do a great job with that as well. :)

Had a party of 20.
Isaac remembered every f*cking name… Amazing tour! Hot dude with wicked liquors, take that tour n drank a drank!

Eastside was one of the distilleries we were really looking forward to, especially their vodka, rum, and bourbons.
It was packed with people on a Sunday afternoon, but we were able to snag a spot at the bar. The «barmaid» was sort of friendly, needed to be prodded for more info on most of the selections, but didn’t really seem to be enjoying her job… There was a hard-​sell on upgrading to taste Doublebarrel Bourbon ($ 3 more and a «free» shotglass), and we were pressured to buy bottles, but declined
I thought the vodka was truly great, deserving of the awards it has received, but the bourbons were disappointing, especially for the prices they’re asking. (I can be oh so happy with my usual George Dickel or Makers Mark for less money) The rums were good, especially the spiced rum, but again, for a few dollars more, I can buy a fantastic Ron Pampero Aniversario at BevMo
Overall, an okay place, mainly for the vodka

Eastside Distilling was our first stop to visit the distilleries in the Portland area. We walked in and I immediately noticed that it’s not a very big space. That’s fine. I can do cozy. We walked downstairs to where the bar is and waited for awhile. Although, I wouldn’t say waited for awhile so much as we kinda stood around waiting to be acknowledged by the employee who was helping a couple of other people. She finally asked if we wanted to do a tasting and after we said yes she told us to go back upstairs to the girl behind the register. We went back upstairs and told the girl behind the register that the girl behind the bar said to see her for a tasting. The girl behind the register was thoroughly annoyed by us. How dare we come in and want to pay to do a tasting. The audacity! They talked back and forth about whether either of them could do a tasting (yep, in front of us, the annoying yet paying customers) and finally they decided the girl downstairs would do our tasting. So we headed back downstairs to do a tasting with a girl that was slightly less annoyed than the girl behind the register. I almost felt like us wanting to taste was a burden.
On to the tasting. Eastside Distilling makes great stuff. We sampled some vodka, a few different rums, and a couple different bourbons. The vodka was good without tasting too aggressive like most vodkas do. The rums were nice and smooth and tasted much better than famous brands. The bourbon was great! It was smooth but had just enough kick to remind you that it’s bourbon. PS, not sure how they get away with calling it bourbon. I thought all bourbon came from Kentucky and everything else is whiskey. Oh well. It was good so they can call it whatever they want.
At the end we bought some bourbon to take home. We didn’t realize until the very end that there’s a Passport that you can use at each distillery. The Passport has coupons to restaurants and other cool things. I think it’s like $ 20.
Anyway, the service was bleh but the booze was great! I’m excited that I can buy Burnside at Hi Time Cellars here in the OC.

The only reason they are even getting 2 stars is because i got to pick a drink made with their liquor.
To start I have a lot of experience in tasting rooms. My husband and I go wine tasting a lot in Sonoma County where we live so we know what education should be like in a tasting room. We also watch bus loads of people get served with great service all at the same time.
When we walked in and they were busy with about a group of 5 – 6 guys on one party. They were all being served by one girl and the other person just greeted us. I saw another person there as well but wasn’t sure what they were doing. There are two large counters one in the top section one down below. The gentleman that greeted us said that there was a private party and someone could help us in 10 – 15 minutes. I was shocked. For one, if there was a «private party» wouldn’t they have reserved ahead and at that time wouldn’t extra staffing be provided and two, why wouldn’t you pour for us instead of just standing at the register counter pushing people away. So we left and came back 20 minutes later. That group was still down there!!! After a few minutes we finally got served. The service was just ok. The liquor was nice and like I said the drinks were a nice touch and yummy.
This is one place I wouldn’t recommend if service is something your interested in. We will not be returning.

This was the worst experience at a distillery I’ve ever had. Usually, everyone at a distillery is so nice because 1) they have their dream job and 2) they get to drink at their dream job.
It was $ 5 for a tasting of 6 liquors. This wasn’t bad at all.
The woman doing the tasting had no sense of humor and no knowledge of the products she was serving. She asked «who wants to drink?» and I raised my hand. I thought she was asking in a «Woo, who wants to drink?!» fun way. But no, it was who wants to drink the vodka. I tried to joke with her but she got snotty and said «work with me, people. Help me out.»
My beau asked questions, that a distillery should be able to answer:
— pot still or column still?
— what is the mash bill of the whiskey?
— how long are the products aged?
At one point the woman said «I don’t know I’m not involved with the production.» Then she suggested a tour for $ 15. I was so annoyed. When you go to Best Buy and ask about a computer or television the salesperson doesn’t say «I don’t know, I didn’t make it.»
Also, there weren’t trash cans or buckets to pour out the liquor readily available. At one point I set half a glass of silver rum on the counter because I didn’t want to hold it. The guy next to me thought it was a tasting and took it and drank it. That was the best part of the whole experience here.
Go to House Spirits for a free tour and better liquor and much more knowledge.

Been coming here for a taste everytime we come to Portland and seems like they have grown the roster of bottles you can buy here. I have to say the last tasting was all out lethal (or good, however you want to look at it!), going with the Distillery Row Passport (buy this, it will fuel your alcoholism!) one of the feature tastings included is this place, and now, unlike before, you get this one little nimble cup, but you get to try all their makings, and I mean all, I think I tried 8 from what I remember.
Funny thing about taste and likes, how things change when you come back, the first time we came the product was good, but not to our liking, but we did leave with some kick-​ass bourbon salted caramel which always made us think of this place. On our recent trip, we purchased the Distillery Row Passport, and they are one of the featured ones in this tasting pass, and since it was there, we might as well hit it up! When you arrive, you notice this place is small from the front, depending on how nice the day is the garage door entrance on the front maybe open for you to stumble in on. Whoever is working up front on any given day, rest assured they are well versed, prepared for your questions, and seem to all have good character and to provide a good time.
On the last visit before just the weekend we ended up going in for the caramel’s they sell, they didn’t have any, passport in hand we began to drink, and something occured, the bourbon here was good, like ‘think I might let you take my money’ good! The Burnside Bourbon, and the Double Barrel Bourbon are good, where the first one has taken home some awards. Personally my dear and I like the first one, to the point she was talking about this in the car on the drive back up to Vancouver, BC. Other things they offer here are their potato vodka, ginger rum, regular rum and their coffee rum. The coffee rum is the real deal, infused with coffee beans, this thing makes you think you are really drinking coffee, hence the added alcohol fun that wishes I would switch my java drink in the morning with this (believe me, if I wouldn’t get caught, I would do it!).
This place also seems to offer tours of the facility, they sell their gear (shirts, etc) and other cool things, but in the end it is about the spirits they serve and enter your body. If your around Distillery Row, stop the car, walk to the joint and get ready to try some booze. Take the time and prepare to pour down the hatch!

I bought my BF a bottle of their Burnside Bourbon for Christmas and he loved it. Since then, we’ve been wanting to check them out, so we used a GroupOn that I just purchased a few days ago, and we (BF and another couple) went last evening. The place is pretty small, and there were a lot of people, but overall a really fun experience.
We did the distillery «tour» — which is actually just the back room, but the guy who gave the tour was funny and informative, and explained the distilling process and showed us what the equipment was used for.
Next, we did the tasting, which was really good. I believe we had a small (very tiny shots) tasting of each bourbon they have (so it was around 8 – 10 shots). Our favs were the Burnside Bourbon, Holiday Spice (which they are almost out of), Below Deck Coffee Rum and Cherry Bomb (YUM).
Overall, I’d recommend trying this place out, especially if you like bourbon. These guys have only be around for a few years, but they know what they’re doing. Support a local business and check them out!
*TIP* We paid $ 10 a person for our GroupOn, and their tastings are only $ 5 regularly, so I’d recommend just doing the tasting. The GroupOn just added the tour and a commemorative glass.