Black Butte Whiskey

written by Jeremy Storton


As a beer writer, naturally it is my duty to write about beer. However, when I heard about a collaboration between Deschutes Brewery and Bendistillery that begat a whiskey based on Black Butte Porter, I took some liberties.  Man! was it good.

Whiskey is a fairly close cousin to beer. Corn or grains are mashed and fermented. The biggest difference is there are no hops in whiskey (not yet anyway), and the alcohol is then evaporated off in the distilling process into moonshine. Barrel aging then tempers the harsh booze and adds interesting flavor as well as color.

Black Butte Whiskey is full bodied, almost syrupy.  It has flavors of bready caramel, milk chocolate, vanilla, oak, spicy heat from the alcohol and a surprising strong hint of lemon pound cake. Yes, I am still talking about whiskey. According to my palate, however, the beloved coffee notes found in Black Butte porter are the only things missing. This whiskey should never be treated so poorly as to pair with a mixer. There are only three things this Black Butte Whiskey needs, a glass and a couple of ice cubes.

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