Clear Creek's Eau de Vie of Douglas Fir

I've encountered a distinction in several conversations over my lifetime between those who favor the sea and those who favor the mountains and forests; indeed, I've heard people say that they need to live near some large body of water, a compulsion they can't easily explain but obey without question. It seems specious as hell, but count me with the trees, moss and subtle sounds of slow growth, inexorable decay and exploding life, and I'll leave the red noise of the active ocean, its malevolent lowtide stillness and hungry smells to - well, that's actually pretty good, too.

Anyway, Steven McCarthy, of Oregon's Clear Creek Distillery's gotten some love from the NYTimes over the years,

http://www.nytimes.com/2007/08/15/dinin ... wanted=all
http://dinersjournal.blogs.nytimes.com/ ... ux-de-vie/
http://proof.blogs.nytimes.com/author/steve-mccarthy/

...and with good reason: his single malt whiskey totally deserves to be called "whisky;" such a peaty thing has no business coming from that shore, and his eaux de vie are pretty much the standard-bearers on arguably both sides of the Atlantic. But it's his eau de vie of douglas fir that's enthralled me for the last couple years. The story I gleaned from the articles linked above is that he takes his employees for a mirthless early morning drive a few times a year out to the forest, where they drop freshly fallen douglas fir buds into pails of clear brandy; in proper eau de vie style these are macerated for a good while and distilled again, and then more buds are added later on to give it this really pretty hue comparable to a watered-down green chartreuse.

The aroma and taste are just... glorious. Blue and green and summergold, with a bright, eye-opening wintergreen zing. It's easier to drink chilled, and seems thinner and more austere as it warms. While the flavor of the tree is certainly there, no question, it connotes so much more than it denotes. It's a deeply evocative drink, and lest you fear that I'm recommending a fifty dollar bottle of Pine-Sol, I'm not - McCarthy cuts it with his classically refined eau de vie of poire for balance. It's not a pine tree-bomb, it's a tannenbaum (boom).