"The Multnomah Whiskey Library holds an exhaustive collection representing all major, and lesser, styles of distilled spirits known to the modern world."

Located on Alder St. in the heart of downtown Portland, the plain facade of the Multnomah Whiskey Library leaves all to the imagination of what's behind that door at the top of the stairs. Upon entering you are hit with the majesty of the great wall of 1500 bottles. Unless you know exactly what you are looking for... and you will find it here if you do... leave your selections in the very capable hands of their extremely knowledgeable bartenders and prepare to spend some time soaking in the atmosphere.

Brett did an excellent job of whipping up our first couple of drinks for the evening & recommended an Improved Whiskey Cocktail for myself and Josh was dead set on a classic Old Fashioned. One of the signature mixed drinks that the Library opened with three years ago, I can attest that it is one of the best I have ever had.

Left to Right: Improved Whiskey Cocktail, Old Fashioned

To pair with our cocktails we grabbed a heaping bowl of bacon fat popcorn. A word of warning... don't go for the last bits as it will leave your fingers dripping in grease (unless you like that sort of thing). Both of us were pretty hungry so I ordered the chef's flight and Josh the mac & cheese.

I started off the straight stuff with a dram of Four Roses Limited Edition Small Batch 2016 Barrel Strength. It made a great pairing with what was left of the bacon fat popcorn. Josh picked out the Ardbeg Ardbog. This thing turned out to be a smokey peat monster with a very complex profile and he said that it was the best Ardbeg yet and now is on a personal quest to secure one of these bottles.

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If you ever find yourself in Portland for the evening definitely look up the Library. They do have a membership program for reservations and even though the well-worth-it wait for a table upstairs can be rather long for walk-ins, their "Green Room" downstairs offers the essence of the library with a slightly reduced yet more attainable selection of spirits and spots at the bar.