Clear Creek Douglas Fir Eau Vie

Clear Creek's Douglas Fir Eau de Vie is one of the strangest and most original spirits made in America, and it took founder Steve McCarthy ten years to get right. The model was an obscure Alsatian spirit, eau de vie de bourgeons de sapin, distilled from the spring buds of Scots pine; McCarthy wanted to do the same thing with Oregon's state tree. Douglas fir buds are hand-picked in spring, macerated in eau de vie and distilled, and the distillate is then infused a second time with fresh buds before being filtered and bottled at 47.7% ABV. The pale green color comes entirely from that second infusion; there is no added color or flavoring. Clear Creek was founded in Portland in 1985, was bought by Hood River Distillers in 2014, and now distills in Hood River. Tasters describe the aroma as clean and fresh, like walking into a room with a Christmas tree, and the palate as bracingly fresh in a minty way, recognizably pine, with a slight bitterness and nothing sweet about it. Bartenders use it in small doses, a rinse or a quarter ounce, where it does what no other bottle can.

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