By now, you've probably seen a bunch of advertising from Ryan Reynolds for Aviation American Gin. He's a majority stakeholder in the company, ever sense he had a bartender make him a negroni and was so impressed by the gin that was used that he looked up the company and made an offer to get in on the business.
In my last post, I talked to you about visiting places that used to be other places and this past weekend we went with a few friends to the Aviation distillery here in Portland. Not only is it one of the prettiest distilleries we've ever been to, but it also used to be a printing press. It's the only distillery for Aviation and they work Monday through Thursday to produce as many bottles as they can to fill orders from 40 countries and all 50 states in the U.S.
We've been meaning to check out the distillery for a while, because we love to see how things are made and learn more about it, even if it's a thing we don't use, but I have to tell you, this tour made me enjoy gin in a way I never have.
You start your visit in the bar and gift shop area. I will say, they really know what I want out of a gift shop, because this one has everything I enjoy, and the product is all branded in kind of a perfect way without being cheesy or kitchy. You can buy everything from t-shirts to beanies to Christmas sweaters to bitters. You could imagine Ryan wearing or using any of the products non-ironically, and that's exactly what makes it one that I would shop at without having a tour scheduled.
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| The Portland Tiki - Stone Fruit Gimlet - Gin Gin Mule |
The tasting room isn't a full bar, which means they can't serve you as many drinks as you want and they can't serve you full-size drinks. You can have 5 3oz pours on your visit. Your tour includes 2, and you have the opportunity to purchase 3 more when your tour is done.
You begin your tour in the warehouse, where you also learn the story of Aviation gin, the aviation cocktail (which was not named for the gin, but the other way around), how Ryan got involved, and a little bit about the building.
Next, you go into the bottling room, which doesn't seem that elaborate when you are told that this is the only distillery and bottling facility for Aviation, which ships worldwide. Everything is on its way to being manufactured in America. Already, the bottles and boxes are made in Pennsylvania, the corn used to make the vodka, that's turned into gin, is grown in Indiana, the labels are made here in Portland, and they are working on sourcing their caps in the U.S. as well.
On the other side of a wall of cases of gin (not literally, but there are several very tall pallets of gin hanging out), you go to the botanical table, where you learn about the spices that go into the gin and get really hands on with it. Find out about juniper berries, which you can taste if you want, and how they used to get crushed, first with 2x4 wood planks and then by cricket bats. See how everything goes into a maceration bag, which is like a giant tea bag to infuse the gin with the botanical flavors. When the botanicals have been used for the current batch, they then get recycled into compost or animal feed, so nothing goes to waste.
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| Where the magic happens - the 2 copper stihls: Blake on the left and Ryan on the right |
You then move on to the distilling room, which is not that big, and only has two stihls (one named Blake and one named Ryan). There's a shared desk for the two gin scientists to sit and make sure everything's going the way it's supposed to go and where the gin is separated into 3 parts. The heads come first and, like the head of a beer, are not suitable for bottling. In this case, it can be used for things like rubbing alcohol. The hearts come next and that's the best part of the gin that gets bottled. The tails come after and are mostly water, and gets used it if can for something other than gin or it is properly disposed of.
You end your tour in Ryan's "office". While I'm almost positive this isn't a place he spends much time in if he is visiting, I am equally positive that he put a ton of time and attention into designing it with two of his favorite DVDs, random trophies, and minimalist posters of his movies in Spanish. It's all very deliberate.
It's here that you learn to drink gin in different ways that help you really taste the different flavors and then your tour guide, who's also a bartender, makes you the famous aviation cocktail, meant to evoke the color of the horizon from the airplane. It contains gin, lemon, creme de violette, and maraschino liqueur. It is a really pretty purple and is garnished with a brandied cherry.
We've taken a lot of tours: chocolate, beer, whisky, cheese, etc. This one was pretty unique, and not just because we enjoy Ryan Reynold's humor or because it's located so close to us. I genuinely enjoyed our tour guide, Mac. They have worked at the distillery since it opened 5 years ago, knew all the answers to my questions, and really loved their job. They made it fun and the hour flew by.
Tour rates are fairly reasonable to go on a small, personal tour. It's just $35 per person and if you don't drink, you can get the designated driver rate of just $15. There are similar tours for different companies all over, and I highly recommend checking one or more out, especially if you're on a trip and want to do something unique to your destination. Not only will you learn something, but you'll also contribute to a local business, which I'm always in favor of.
Do you have a favorite tour you've been on during your travels or in your hometown that you think people should do?
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