Eastside Distilling, Inc. announced first deliveries of its new Burnside Bourbon, a bourbon with five components that has been finished in rare Oregon Oak.
Burnside Bourbon is the creation of Eastside’s Master Distiller Mel Heim and is the culmination of years of working with casks of Oregon Oak. The Burnside line of bourbon, whiskey and rye is unique in that all of the products are finished to varying degrees by being barreled in Oregon Oak prior to bottling. No other distillery follows this practice, in part because Oregon Oak barrels command a premium price due to the comparative scarcity of the wood, also known by the species name Garryanna.
Eastside also revamped the product’s label, dumping the image of Major General Ambrose Burnside to “align it with Burnside Street, a thriving hub of activity that’s alive with creative expression, art galleries, Powell’s Book, iconic record stores, and music venues that makes it the epicenter for one of Portland’s most celebrated music scenes.
“Burnside Street is the artery that divides Portland’s North and South. In the old days it was associated with somewhat unsavory card rooms and the sailors who fanned out from the Burnside dock on the river. That is a heritage that might not be appropriate for bottled water, but I think it’s very suitable one for a whiskey,” said Grover Wickersham, chairman/ceo.