Rogue Spirits, A Coming of Age Story

Our whiskeys and gins are getting a little older and wiser. And their new bottles show it.

Fourteen can be an awkward age for some. But for Rogue Spirits, it’s time for us to grow up and get a new wardrobe. That’s why we’re putting our two-year-old Dead Guy Whiskey, three-year-old Oregon Rye Whiskey, five-year-old Single Malt Whiskey and our two gins (Spruce Gin and Pinot Spruce Gin) in bottles that make them look their age.

Over the years, we fine-tuned the way we craft our World Class Spirits. It’s an experience we want to reflect in the quality of both the product and the packaging.

Our Spruce Gin is crafted with fresh cucumber grown at Rogue Farms.

Back in 2004, then-Mayor Bud Clark cut the ribbon at the grand opening of our first distillery on the second floor of Rogue Distillery & Public House in Portland’s Pearl District. Oregon’s first rum distillery since Prohibition had arrived but we were just getting started.

Pinot Spruce Gin is finished in Oregon Pinot Noir barrels.

Over the next three years, we hand crafted four spirits: three styles of rum and our Spruce Gin, introduced in January of 2007. With so much fermentation happening in the small, second-floor distillery in the Pearl District, it was clear that we needed more room.

Oregon Single Malt Whiskey is aged in oak barrels for at least five years.

We moved into Rogue House of Spirits next door to Rogue Brewer’s on the Bay in our hometown of Newport, Ore. in 2007. A year later, we filled our still with Dead Guy Ale whiskey wash and debuted Dead Guy Whiskey. We also started growing our own barley at Rogue Farms in Tygh Valley that same year, giving us access to the most important whiskey ingredient. Soon we were growing our own rye. Single Malt Whiskey and Oregon Rye Whiskey later joined our lineup.

Oregon Rye Malt Whiskey uses rye grown at Rogue Farms in Tygh Valley.

By 2011, we were once again bursting at the seams. So we moved into our current distillery just across the parking lot from House of Spirits. Our spirits found a home aging in oak barrels in the Ocean Aging Room right next door. And The World Beverage Competition took notice of our little operation in 2014, awarding us the Distiller of the Year title.

Dead Guy Whiskey starts out as Dead Guy Ale before it’s distilled.

As we step into 2018, we’re hand crafting spirits on a 550-gallon still and aging our spirits until they’re ready for the bottle. Newport’s ocean air gives Rogue Spirits that local character as Level 10 Spirits Wizard Jake Holshue rears them into adulthood. It’s a true coming of age story right here in Newport, Ore.

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