The New Scotch Lodge, Portland
written by Jen Stevenson When the holiday euphoria fades and January digs in its dreary heels, it’s best to have a designated grey day den to retreat to, preferably one with Burnt Orange Sherry Cobbler cocktails, soft shell crab sandwiches and a single malt Scotch collection one dreams of getting snowed in with. Enter the Scotch Lodge, a peaty, piquant inner Southeast speakeasy by prized Portland bartender Tommy Klus, who mixed and muddled at Teardrop Lounge, Multnomah Whiskey Library and La Moule before opening the doors of his much-anticipated, instantly revered “cocktail bar for whisky lovers.” Nesting in the cozy, sunken space formerly occupied by beloved Biwa, the bar feels like a secret. Patrons enter via a nondescript door at the corner of SE Ash and 9th Avenue, twist to the right and down, and eventually emerge in a warm, whisky-filled womb of dark wood and gleaming marble, soft forest-green…