Distillers Gather This Weekend to Sample Their Spirits

This weekend here in Portland beer festivals give way to a relatively new event in the alcohol enjoyment spectrum: the 4th Annual Great American Distillers Festival, August 23 (1-9 pm) and 24 (1-7 pm) at the Gerding Theater at the Armory in the Pearl District.

This informal event will bring together a lot of Northwest distillers as well as other small operations from around the country. Two floors of tastings will offer you the chance to taste small batch rum, vodka, gins, whiskeys and brandies. Events will include a mixology competition and, on Sunday, a run of seminars focusing on different spirits topics. The most interesting of these may well be the "Faeries in Your Backyard: Q&A on Northwest Absinthe," a talk about the revival of absinthe.

I'll be off this afternoon on a media tour of distilleries in the area. Watch later for photos - that is, after my brain clears from the upcoming haze.