"bend distillery" news and stories

Desert Juniper Gin is 41% abv. / 82 proof and like its more powerful sibling, Cascade Mountain Gin, is made by Bend Distillery in Bend, OR. This bottle is micro-distilled, hand bottled and numbered and from Batch # 124.

It has a light gold/yellow color to it and the aroma is that of very light juniper, citrus, and fruit; smelling slightly sweet, sharp, and dry at the same time. Its not as piney and floral as the Cascade Mountain and has a much softer and fuller aroma with some nice notes that are hard to pin down, but there seems to be a slightest hint of cedar going on and as it warms up even a warm touch of hazelnuts. What first started out very mild, develops depth and complexity in the nose.

The taste starts off very light and soft. Then you get a mild fruitiness and sweetness that develops; with just a touch of juniper, fruit and nuts. This is a light and mild gin that is smooth and soft. Tasted next to Cascade Mountain you immediately notice the difference. Desert Juniper is the soft and delicate, dusky younger sister to Cascade Mountain's big, sharp, and bold; mountain man big brother. This is a very nice gin, but on the lighter and more delicate end of the gin spectrum. If using with a mixer I would tend to stick lighter tasting juices like just a dash of grapefruit juice or tonic; and if in a martini, then very dry.

Cascade Mountain Gin is 47.5abv / 95proof and made since 1996 at Bend Distillery in Bend, OR, it's received several awards including a silver medal at the 2006 World Beverage Competition. Made from hand picked wild mountain juniper berries from the Central Oregon high desert plateau and a mix of other local botanicals, and distilled in a copper alembic or pot still. Most gins are colorless with very few exceptions like Seagram's and Magellan, Cascade Mountain is not heavily filtered so it has a pleasing, very light gold color.

I can see why they called it Cascade Mountain Gin. When I poured a dram into a snifter, swirled it, and inhaled, it made me think back to when I worked as a wilderness and mountain guide. I flashed back to golden sunned, summer days; climbing through coniferous forests high in the Cascade Mountains. That spicy combination of pine, sage, aromatic grasses, wildflowers, and a hint of ozone from a sudden mountain storm that I remember fondly, wrapped up in liquid form. When I sipped it all those smells were repeated in the taste, and for such a full tasting and high proof gin it is remarkably smooth and soft with that slightly sweet and spicy/floral taste making it very refined and classy.

There is nothing I don't like about this gin and would use it primarily as a martini or sipping gin since even tonic might overwhelm the complex flavors, although I can see it lending some much appreciated complexity to a well made cocktail.