What makes a great whiskey?

What makes it the bottle that someone pulls off the shelf? What makes it worthy of a high-end Old Fashioned or splashed into a refreshing Mint Julep? Perhaps it’s the ingredients, the barrels its stored in, or maybe it’s the distilling process. Maybe it’s all of that and more.

The dedicated staff at Westward Whiskey in Portland, Ore. are willing to take the risks to find out. Westward employs a team of creators that include former craft beer brewers, winemakers and Michelin-trained chefs with more than 50 years of collective experience. Westward uses locally malted barley, a twice-distilled process, and American Oak barrels to create a whiskey that is unique to the Pacific Northwest.

“Westward’s grain barley is grown in the Pacific Northwest, but that's as far reaching as say, Idaho, Washington, Montana, and parts of Canada,” said Vice President of Consumer Experiences Kelly Woodcock. “We look for a grain specifically that's grown in Idaho, and we have great access to some of the best grain in the world.”

Westward Whiskey opened in Oregon 20 years ago, and after several years, they found themselves needing a new and unique space to funnel the local sense of creativity and entrepreneurship into their whiskey. That was where Schnitzer Properties came in, Woodcock says.

“When we were searching for our new facility several years ago, one of the things that we struggled with is that we wanted to be close to tourists and to our consumers, but also to manufacturers,” Woodcock said. “When we first leased this building, it was a three-sided shed—which was awesome because it gave us a ton of flexibility in how to create this space. And we were able to work with Schnitzer Properties and design a space that met a lot of needs. Working with Schnitzer Properties to create this building has been amazing partnership.”

For Westward Whiskey, a large part of their success comes from the community in which its located. The Central Eastside also features Steven Smith Teamaker, another Schnitzer Properties tenant that is housed less than a block away. Westward Whiskey partners with them to make some of their unique tea offerings such as their Barrel-Aged Portland Breakfast and their Ode to Whiskey teas.

“When you're trying to start a business, the only way you can be successful is if you have a bunch of partners that buy in—your customers, your suppliers, partners like Schnitzer Properties that help you create a space to support the local community,” Woodcock said. “We get to work with people that are like-minded, and we get this freedom to create something that we really believe in, and we think is really delicious.”