Tacoma Washington

[Drrich1965]

Will be in Tacoma for four mights- any interesting bars with good whisk(e)y selections?

[Cody]

There was a post a few weeks ago about a great bar just south of Seattle. That's only about 45 to 50 minute drive north. Might be worth doing a search. Wish I could help more.

[laphroaigaficionado]

It is not a bar, but I could recommend to visit Clear Creek distillery
in Portland, if it is not too far away. Their Single Malt whisky is excellent.
One could have a small distillery tour and taste the whisky.
They use malt from Port Ellen.

[Di Blasi]

It is not a bar, but I could recommend to visit Clear Creek distillery
in Portland, if it is not too far away. Their Single Malt whisky is excellent.
One could have a small distillery tour and taste the whisky.
They use malt from Port Ellen.

A great reccomendation! Also, look for
http://www.mcmenamins.com/index.php?loc ... 20Homepage
and they have brew pubs and restaurants all over from what I've heard. The whiskey is good the last time I tried it a few years back.

[laphroaigaficionado]

Yes, I have visited Edgefield as well, but somehow I have not
been impressed. I wanted to see it, because it was also recommended
in the whisky bible, but I have to admit that I liked Clear Creek much more
(What also applies for the whisky, but tastes are different).

For me, the Clear Creek has reminded me a bit of early Ardbegs,
but this was the 2005 bottling, I do not know the recent one.

More information is available here:
http://clearcreekdistillery.com/whiskey.html

The price per bottle is a bargain in my point of view....

[Bulkington]

I think Tacoma's best scotch selection can (or used to be) found at Stanley & Seaforts.

http://www.r-u-i.com/sta/index.php

[lohssanami]

This thread got me interested in trying McCarthy's since I am a big Islay fan, but I couldn't find anywhere that had it in stock. I emailed the distillery, and I just got an email back from Steve McCarthy at Clear Creek.

He said that the next bottling will take place around March 15th.

I'm sure the availability will be shortly after that date, and I'll let you guys know when I find it.

[Ryguy]

This thread got me interested in trying McCarthy's since I am a big Islay fan, but I couldn't find anywhere that had it in stock. I emailed the distillery, and I just got an email back from Steve McCarthy at Clear Creek.

He said that the next bottling will take place around March 15th.

I'm sure the availability will be shortly after that date, and I'll let you guys know when I find it.

Indeed the stuff sure does sound interesting. I can't wait to find a bottle. I'm chasing a few leads now. So we'll see where it goes.

[laphroaigaficionado]

It is available here:
http://www.whisky.fr/produit-496-mc-carthys-40.html

I do not know if they send outside the EU, but if somebody needs
help, send me a pm.

You can reserve a bottle or more from the new bottling at their website:
http://clearcreekdistillery.com/distillery-news.html if you scroll down....

Luckily I still have an unopened of the 2005..... It is really good stuff...

[Bulkington]

McCarthy's is good. My mom found me a bottle at a Tacoma liquor store the Christmas before last. There are some bottles kicking around NY. I think they had some at Park Ave last time I was there. Might be worth a call ... unless, that is, the WA Liquor Board has anything to say about it.

I remember it being full and husky and ... meaty? It's been a while. Reminded me of a CS Bowmore (16 yo?) I sampled at a friend's. That's maybe not at all helpful.

Anyway.

[Drrich1965]

Thanks all for your feedback..Sadly, I won't be able to get to the distillery- two days in Tacoma with an old freind, and then two days of work stuff.....A bottle of Macarthy's sounds like a good call, however....Thanks also the for the lead on the Steakhouse!

[Cody]

This is great news. Since I'm right next to Portland, OR I'll have to go take the Clear Creek Distillery tour. It says the next bottling is March of 2008!

[clicker7]

Re: Portland/Clear Creek

It must be a pretty good malt. Jim Murray rated Clear Creek's/ McCarthy SM "94" in 2005 Whisky Bible.

Joseph

[Ryguy]

Yes, I have visited Edgefield as well, but somehow I have not
been impressed. I wanted to see it, because it was also recommended
in the whisky bible, but I have to admit that I liked Clear Creek much more
(What also applies for the whisky, but tastes are different).

For me, the Clear Creek has reminded me a bit of early Ardbegs,
but this was the 2005 bottling, I do not know the recent one.

More information is available here:
http://clearcreekdistillery.com/whiskey.html

The price per bottle is a bargain in my point of view....

I just pre-ordered 2 bottles from Clear Creek, from the next run of McCarthy's Oregon Single Malt Whiskey, which is due out by the end of this month. The people at Clear Creek were very accomodating and extremely helpful. Just give them a call, and I'm sure they'll help any of you out. Not sure about shipments outside the U.S. though.

If anyone is interested, here is a brief description of their whiskey that they sent to me:

"The McCarthy's is aged 3 years spending time in both virgin Oregon Oak and old Sherry barrels from Portugal. It's young but that's only if your eyes are open. It's most similar to Lagavulin in style incorporating a sweet and soft butter finish unlike many of the heavily peated finishes of other Islay style Scotch like Laphroig or Ardbeg. We'll bottle this batch at 85 proof as we did the last 2 batches, leaving out the last filtration stage."

[Francisco Scaramanga]

"The McCarthy's is aged 3 years spending time in both virgin Oregon Oak and old Sherry barrels from Portugal. [/quote]

I found this part of the description curious, since AFAIK, Sherry is not produced in Portugal. The name itself is protected by the Spanish and to call something Sherry implies it is from a very specific region. See this link: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Sherry

Port and Madeira are the only Portuguese fortified wines, although I am not an expert on wine.

[Ryguy]

"The McCarthy's is aged 3 years spending time in both virgin Oregon Oak and old Sherry barrels from Portugal.

I found this part of the description curious, since AFAIK, Sherry is not produced in Portugal. The name itself is protected by the Spanish and to call something Sherry implies it is from a very specific region. See this link: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Sherry

Port and Madeira are the only Portuguese fortified wines, although I am not an expert on wine.

First I'd like to welcome you to the forum Francisco! I'm not a wine expert either and I was only quoting what the rep from McCarthy's sent to me. I did refer back to their website and it says there:

"Then we reduce in proof and barrel-age the rough distillate in old sherry casks. All the Oregon Single Malt now spends some time in barrels made from air-dried Oregon Oak."

So whether or not the ex-sherry casks came from Portugal or not I'm not sure. Maybe someone else can shed some light on this to clarify. All that I can tell you is, the people I know who've tried this stuff strongly recommened that I do as well. I will be sure to report back next month when my bottles arrive.

[Deactivated Member]

The malt for McCarthy's is from Baird's of Inverness. Clear Creek has no proper brewing equipment, so the wash is prepared by Widmer Brothers Brewing of Portland. Steve McCarthy says they were the only willing local brewery, and have always been very cooperative. I have a vague recollection of him saying that his two sherry butts were acquired for a song from a winery in California, but I can't swear to it. He says they are about at the end of their useful life, and won't be replaced. There is some limousin oak, but the bulk of the wood is Oregon oak from the Oregon Barrel Works, who make barrels mostly for wine. Apparently there is one bottling a year, and demand far exceeds supply, so if you see it and are interested, jump on it. The last time I was there (January), I got the last drops out of the last sample bottle he had from last year's batch. The whiskey's three years old--he says he'd like to age some longer, but can't keep the stuff in! Clear Creek's main products are fruit brandies and eaux-de-vie, so I guess the whiskey is a bit of a sideline. If you are interested in distillates other than whiskey, Clear Creek's products are all top-notch.
I reeeeally like the 8yo eau-de-vie de pomme--it's quite different from calvados, but just as interesting in its way.

http://clearcreekdistillery.com/

[Ryguy]

Mr. T, thanks for the clarification there, and welcome back! I'm really looking forward to my first bottles of McCarthy's. Steve and his crew were excellent to deal with, and extremely accomodating.

[Deactivated Member]

Ryan, Federal in Boston also carries Clear Creek products, including McCarthy's when available.

[Ryguy]

Ryan, Federal in Boston also carries Clear Creek products, including McCarthy's when available.

Thanks for the reminder! I'm not sure when my next trip to Boston will be, so I thought ordering it direct would be easiest this time (to esure I could get 2 bottles).

By the way, the G&M tasting was very interesting. Be sure to ask Joe next time you're in, I'm sure he's got some stuff still open for taste!