Behind The Scenes at an Alaska Distillery
Alaska has a wildness that calls to the entrepreneurs of the world. Pay a visit to our Haines distillery and you’ll find yourself drinking alongside makers of handcrafted food and goods — to create comes naturally to the people here. Inspired by the moonshine bootleggers of the Klondike Gold Rush, our team at Port Chilkoot Distillery embraces the Alaskan way of life. Located inside the historical Fort Seward, our small team is committed to harvesting sustainably from the land, producing high quality spirits, and chasing our dreams on the Last Frontier. Take a look behind the curtain at our Alaska distillery to discover what makes Port Chilkoot exceptional.
Our founders, Heather Shade and Sean Copeland, did not start as craft distillers. Heather is a former National Park Service biologist, while Sean brought two decades of experience as a carpenter to the table. While neither provided formal training in alcohol making, their backgrounds melded well for distilling, a skill where science and art collide. Heather’s deep knowledge of Alaskan nature translates into our spirits through wild foraged, regional botanicals that make their way into the still, which is housed in our production building that Sean built from scratch. Together they patiently coax perfection out of our various liquors.
Step through the door at our Alaska distillery and you’ll find our small yet mighty team collaborating on our next favorite batch. While we work year round on production, we shift our focus with the seasons. Winters are spent cooking mash for our Alaskan whiskeys before transferring our Boatwright Bourbon and Wrackline Rye to barrels for resting. Our small batch vodka, Icy Strait, also runs off the still in the first part of the year. As Spring comes to Alaska, we venture out to harvest locally grown herbs such as wormwood, lemon balm, anise hyssop, and fresh spruce tips. After processing, the aromas of unique botanicals and toasted sugarcane fill the air as we turn to making our award winning 50 Fathoms Gin, Green Siren Absinthe and Seaworthy Rum for the summer months. Many hands make light work, and our crew comes together to bring each bottle to life from raw ingredients to packing up and shipping out the final product.
No trip to our Alaska distillery is complete without a visit to our Tasting Room. Enjoy the full range of our spirits, neat or in a masterfully made cocktail by our hospitable bar team. Time at the Tasting Room is all about connecting with our local community - folks from all over Haines swing by for a quick drink, to meet with friends and family, and toast to the splendor of the place we call home. We wouldn’t trade it for anything, and we’re proud to make exceptional spirits we hope you'll savor. Come say hello or order a bottle online today!