(Irish Music playing)

And normally this is when I say, "Fáilte ar ais,"

which is "welcome back" to the bar,

but I'm at someone else's bar today.

So I want to say go raibh maith agat

to Angela here at Trailhead Liquor in Bend.

Angela, thank you very much for having us here.

- I'm excited to have you.

- Yeah. So your liquor store.

- (Angela) Yes. - (Andrew) Trailhead Liquor.

- (Angela) That's correct.

- Tell us about the name, where it came from and

- I've lived in Bend for about 18 years

and I absolutely love the outdoors.

It's so much a part of the Bend culture,

hiking, biking, kayaking.

Whatever your heart's desire when it comes

to being in the outdoors, you can do it right here.

And for me, I became a really avid hiker.

So then it made sense to call it Trailhead.

- Okay.

- Or something along those lines.

- Yeah. - Funny story.

I actually tried to call it Trail's End first,

and there's a whiskey called that

and they said, "Please don't do that."

- So they were nice to you before they sent you the

- Well, I kind of poked the bear on that one.

I wanted to make sure, before I spent

a lot of money on signs and other things that,

it wasn't going to be a problem.

So it ended up being Trailhead, which is fine.

A lot of times I like to bring a dram on my hikes.

- Yeah I'm not surprised.

- Usually Scotch or Irish,

and so it makes sense

that you stop here before you head out.

- Yeah, no, it makes sense.

And of course here, we're on the north end of Bend.

- Correct.

- One of our favorite hikes,

as we've talked about before we jumped on camera,

is to the north of us here up at Smith Rock.

So straight up past Redmond and

that's a place we love to go.

I would say that when I get to the end of a hike,

we prefer to have a kind of a cooler cocktail.

So yeah, the dram, may be in the winter, but

- See, for me it's always like mid-hike,

you find a place to sit and enjoy the view,

and you have a dram with your friends.

- Okay. I can see that one.

And how long have you been here at Trailhead Liquor?

- So Trailhead has been open for four years this month.

- Right.

- Yeah, so it's been exciting.

- But what prompted you to get into the retail biz?

- I had a friend that was in the industry.

She took over an existing store.

So I kind of watched her journey on that.

And around the time when my kids were getting older

and I was really looking for some other way to spend my time

since they didn't need me so much anymore,

the OLCC decided that they were going to expand

and allow more stores to be in Bend.

And that, at that point I applied for the store.

It was a pretty long process.

Took many, many months.

- Yeah. I think we could almost do a video just on

- Absolutely.

- Oregon liquor laws.

- Yep. It's definitely unique, but I was granted the license

and then it took some time, obviously,

to get a lease in place and the build-out

and things along those lines.

- They, obviously, don't help you

dealing with your landlord, etc. That's for you to do?

- Not at all. That's up to me.

- Okay. And so 2018 you've obviously survived.

- Thrived. I mean, it was not a bad business to be in

during COVID.

A lot of people drank a whole lot.

I mean, it was a little scary at first

because we were considered essential

and you didn't initially know how it was spreading

- Of course, of course.

- and we couldn't find masks and all these things.

So there was a certain amount of stress

that came along with it.

But I think the growth that I experienced during COVID

was completely abnormal for a relatively new business.

And we've just stayed there at this point.

- So continued? - Yeah.

- I know we're not done with it yet.

We're shooting this video in mid-August of '22.

We're not out of the woods yet, so to speak,.

But business has stayed up there?

- It has stayed up there. Yep.

- Good for you.

- I think people found us

and with so many restaurants closed,

people were learning how to make cocktails themselves

and we have everything you need here

to make any kind of cocktail you'd want.

So people started learning mixology and

- Yeah.

- Expanding their palates and repertoires to make up

for what they couldn't get inside a restaurant anymore.

- Yeah. And anything special that you guys did here?

Any encouraging of that online, helping people out?

- I mean, I love having a quirky sense of humor.

When things are rough, like the best thing you can do

is try to find humor in the situation.

So a lot of times I would post things that were

somewhat absurd, but at the same time, it's like,

"We're all in this together.

Let's have a laugh, have a dram."

- Or two.

- Or six, and you know,

we'll come out the other side stronger and better.

- Yeah. No I agree. Great. Good on you guys for that.

So we are standing here right in front of

your Irish whiskey section,

which I first experienced back in May when I was up here.

And I have to say I was impressed

with the selection of the availability.

I think I took two bottles with me then.

I think it was a Redbreast PX that I'd been

- Oh yeah, that's a good one.

- Still have to open it.

But who's responsible here for, and obviously,

we do some shots of other parts of the store here,

but great selection of Irish, Scotch, American.

I was ogling your Rum section,

which is right in front of us here.

Who's responsible for sourcing and ordering

and making those decisions.

- (Angela) So a lot of that falls

on the store manager, Justin.

He is, I mean I love whiskey,

and he really loves whiskey.

He nerds out on it all the time and does research

and knows more than I will probably ever know about it.

And he is a 100% responsible

for the amazing selection you see here.

- Great. And a lot of his research then,

is just reading. Is there any

- Absolutely.

- trade tastings or

- COVID made a little mess of that?

We couldn't really meet in public.

But prior to that there were definitely

all sorts of trade shows and gave you an opportunity

to try new things.

But I would say majority of how he's found things

is just research.

- In terms of your customers coming in.

You've a wonderful selection of Irish here,

are customers prepared to chop and change?

If they're a big Bourbon fan

will they try an Irish Single Grain, for example?

Or do you find people stay in their lane

on their preference?

- It really depends.

I think a true Jack Daniels drinker

really doesn't stray from that.

if that's what they love, they're going to stick with it.

But I feel like the best gateway to Irish

is somebody who starts with Canadian.

Canadian's very easy to drink.

It's, I wouldn't say simple,

but it's very palatable.

And then if somebody is like, "I really love Canadian

but I want to try something else."

Irish is the next natural way to go in that direction.

Because it's also a little on the lighter side.

You don't have to worry about smoke so much,

as people get fearful when they're drinking Scotches.

So it's a great segway

for somebody who's starting in Canadian

- Okay.

- to move onto Irish.

A little more complexity there

than you see in a lot of Canadians.

So it can really be a mind opener

and change your palate in that way.

- And then with this wonderful selection,

you obviously have some folks who are Irish to the core,

so to speak, when it comes to their

- Sure

- Are, are they adventurous or do they,

because I know I am.

- Right.

- Obviously I'm on this journey to discover Irish whiskey.

Do people stick to the same old, when they come?

- I think it's a mixed bag. But I would say

one of my favorite opportunities is when somebody comes in

they're like, "I know I love Jameson,

but I want to try something else."

- Okay.

- "What should I try next?"

- Okay. And the answer is?

- I mean, there's a variety.

I like to ask a couple questions

and see what it is that they like about Jameson.

If it's like, "Oh, it's really easy to drink

and it's light and sweet and this and that."

Then I'm not going to immediately leap them up

to like a Connemara or something up like that.

I would say, "What about Black Bush?

That's excellent.

This is a good little segway, right here,

that you could try something new and see if it's your jam.

And maybe it's not, maybe it is.

But it's definitely a good experience to try something new."

- So obviously Christmas and the Holiday Season.

a few months away.

But do you find that people will treat themselves

- Oh, absolutely. - around the Holidays?

And it's a great adult gift, right?

Because so many of us have what we need,

so why not get something for somebody

that they wouldn't otherwise get for themselves?

You know?

So it's like, "What do I get my boss?

Oh, how about a Jameson 18

or a Writers' Tears Cask strength?"

You know, these are great opportunities.

- Which I said to you before,

it's the first I've seen up there on the top shelf, so

- Yep. Pretty new.

- Yeah, good on you guys for having that.

So with all that talk about Irish whiskeys

and ones that we love,

the reason for being here is for you to share with us

and the world, your favo(u)rite Irish.

I got in touch with you last week

and sent you the run-of-show ahead of time.

And you said you were in a quandary over the weekend

trying to, between two.

- I was. And I settled on the Yellow Spot

because I think it is such a phenomenal Irish.

For people that maybe think they don't like Irish,

I guarantee if they like whiskey,

and they try this, they're going to like it.

And they're going to be like,

"This is different than most Irishes as I've tasted."

- And again, as I said to you before we jumped on camera,

this is a first for me.

- I'm excited for you to try this.

It is so good.

- My journey into Irish whiskey

was through Redbreast 12.

- Also phenomenal.

- Yeah. And I've had some 15.

Which is a really interesting different.

In Redbreast it was a real eye opener.

And I'm intrigued about the Yellow Spot.

We do have a bottle of Green Spot Chateau Montelena

that they've done.

- Oh, right yeah.

- Which I haven't yet opened.

Obviously living in Napa, Montelena is something

that's a huge part of our history there.

So I'm excited.

- Yeah.

- To try the Yellow Spot.

So I suppose we should

- I say we open it up.

- Yeah. Interestingly,

I'm not sure how much of the background

of the Spot stories you know, but back in the day

in the late 1800s into the early 1900s, it was,

it was aged in the cellars of Mitchell and Son

who are still a wine merchant to Dublin.

Aged in their cellars in Fitzwilliam Lane.

And bizarrely enough,

my father owned a newsstand,

or newsagent as we call it in Ireland,

literally 400 meters or so from there.

And I never knew that this stuff was aged

in the in the cellars, literally that close.

So my dad - That's pretty cool.

- had that shop since the 70s.

- They don't age it there anymore,

but that's where it started back in the day.

- So my husband and I had speculated

what the Spots meant because there's,

we have Yellow, Green, Blue, Red,

and variations of the different Spots.

And we had thought, because we had traveled in Scotland

and we noticed that they dab sheep

with different colors to

We're like, "Well maybe that's where it came from."

I ended up looking it up because I was curious.

And that was not the case.

Sounded like a good story, but

- They did dab.

- They dabbed the barrels.

- They dabbed the barrels, yeah.

- But it's not from the sheep.

- And I'm sure it's coming your way soon.

It was released at Whiskey Live in Dublin,

in early June, the Gold Spot.

- Oh that's exciting.

- So I asked my kind parents in Dublin to go out

and buy a bottle for me.

So we have a bottle waiting there

for next time we make it to Dublin.

- That's amazing.

- Right. Well, we should say "Slainte."

(glasses clink)

- Slainte.

- Yeah, so what is it about

- I mean, just looking at it

that is like liquid sunshine right there.

- (Andrew) Yeah.

- It's got some nice legs on it

and on the nose, I get so much ripe fruit.

And there's like a rich, warm quality to it.

- Yeah, there's, it's interesting.

With a number of Irish whiskeys I get a,

it's a kind of, a Christmas cake.

- Oh yeah.

- Irish Christmas cake kind of warm baking spice character.

Often when I read tasting notes

or hear people tasting Irish whiskeys,

they say it's got a spiced character.

Well spice runs the gamut.

- It sure does.

- So for me, a lot of the characteristic is that

kind of warm bready, baking spice character.

Which I love kind of

- Right now I'm getting apple.

- And interesting.

One of the things I've learned is,

the main yeast used in the fermentation process

is a yeast drink called MX.

It's been developed over the years and used commonly

by the folks on our distillers.

And it gives, apparently, that appley-peary character

that smell of a number of Irish whiskeys.

- Oh yeah.

- Actually comes from the yeast.

- Interesting.

- Even though they say the barrel is 70% of the flavor,

the yeast in a number of the Spots really comes to the fore.

- And this one is actually three cask matured.

So we've got lots of flavor going on here.

- God, it's just, it's one of those where I just

want to smell it all day long.

It's just got all sorts going on.

- Well, I say we tasted, I'm excited for your

- Okay. We just need to stop the video

and we will pull up a couple of chairs and

wow.

I can see why it's your favorite.

- It's delicious.

- We're tasting them in a Glencairn glass.

When you'd be sipping this at home,

sip it straight? Couple drops of water?

- I am a neat whiskey drinker through and through.

It doesn't matter the proof, it doesn't matter.

I just love it neat. That's my go-to.

- Okay.

- We do have the opportunity here, only with domestics

but to pick barrels, you know single barrels.

And in that situation, I will add water.

Just because that's what other drinkers might be doing.

And I'm trying to appeal to everyone, when I do that.

But that's the exception to that.

- Okay. Wow. Thank you for opening this.

- Ah, you've got to love it.

- Yeah, no. It's a lovely job, a really lovely job.

So back to Trailhead,

I told you that we love to go up to Smith Rock,

it's one of the number of walks we love to do.

What's your favorite place to go for?

- So, just like with my whiskey selection, I'm torn,

because there's so many great opportunities here.

But I'd have to say, probably,

my favorite would have to be Broken Top.

There's a glacial lake at the top.

Not quite at the top of Broken Top,

but right underneath it,

that's framed by the mountain itself,

called No Name Lake.

- (Andrew) Okay. I'll remember that one.

- It's this teal blue gorgeous.

And it's just an epic hike.

I loved taking my kids when they were little.

I have taken many, many friends.

Things have changed a little bit in Bend,

where you're now required to have a permit to go there.

- Okay.

- Which makes it a little harder

but it's absolutely an epic hike to me.

Not impossible for the novice.

- Okay, good.

- You know, no ropes or anything like that are needed.

You just need a good snack, a dram.

- Of this.

- And a bunch of water, things like that.

And it's just gorgeous.

- And I'm assuming it's to the west of us?

- Yes.

- Okay. Yeah. Because we came up here back in the spring

and my wife looked up All Trails

because we wanted to try and do something new.

- Sure.

- And it had the number 5, 0, 0, and plus (500+)

available for walks, trails, hikes in and around Bend.

- Yeah.

- It's this Mecca for outdoor

- Absolutely.

And you could spend every day exploring a different trail.

- Yeah.

- And you probably still wouldn't hit them all.

- When we put Broken Top on our list

it's something for us to consider.

And for visitors to Bend,

obviously I'm a big fan of this part of the world.

- Sure.

- I've been come here for 13 years now.

Firstly, fell in love with all the beer

you guys have up there.

- Right.

- My favorite brewery is Crux.

- (Angela) Oh we love Crux, too.

- We go there.

It's literally the only place I go there now

for a beer.

Any new breweries that we, and people coming here,

should be looking out for?

- (Angela) Van Henion is fairly new.

- (Andrew) Okay.

- I can't remember if they have a tasting room, yet.

But you can buy their beer here.

And they've been just killing it.

They are, absolutely love everything

of theirs that I've tried.

I think that's a new one to look out for, for sure.

- Okay. And then as I'm journeying into spirits,

I've been visiting too many bars

and drinking too many cocktails.

And last night we had the pleasurable joy

of going and having a drink at Sam Simón.

- (Angela) Oh yeah.

- We were looked after there by John.

What a wonderful list of cocktails.

- Yep.

- I know it just won an award here recently.

Any other good bars with great cocktails

in town that people?

- Oh, absolutely. There's a ton.

- Okay.

- Certainly Sam Simón is wonderful.

I'm trying to think of where my favorite

cocktails are really.

- By the way, I didn't mean for you to become

Visit Bend, all-giving tourist advice.

- No, that's okay. I love it actually.

For breakfast we love The Lemon Tree.

I don't know if you've been there.

- (Andrew) Yep.

- And I love a Bloody Mary, my husband does not.

But they have what's called a Jealous Mary

and it's made with tomatillos.

So it's green and he loves it.

So that's an excellent cocktail to try.

- Interesting. Okay. Yeah.

- And I also love Bos Taurus.

They have some really great unique things on their menu.

- Okay.

- Yeah.

- Even though we live in a wonderful place,

in Napa where we've got great restaurants,

we the love food scene up here.

- Oh, I think it's amazing,

having also grown up in California.

I think they're knocking it out of the park here.

- Yeah

- There's so many great places,

including food trucks and things like that.

And I would say Bridge 99, another great brewery to try,

if you haven't tried that. It's nearby here.

Yeah.

- We first came upon The Lot,

I'm going to say about six years ago,

- Oh yeah.

- And now there seems to be three or four knockoffs.

- All over. - It's great.

- I'm like, "Is there a tipping point,

at some point, on the food truck thing?"

- It's great to see it.

Okay. Well I think we're probably

going to turn off the camera in a few seconds.

And you and I will enjoy a little bit more of this.

But, in the meantime, go raibh maith agat again,

thank you very much.

- Oh, I've enjoyed it.

- For having us here. To those of you who love Irish whiskey

and want to get your hands on a bottle.

Obviously, you can see, where we're standing - top shelf

all the way down to the bottom shelf here.

And there's nothing bottom shelf about

- (Angela) Not a thing.

- (Andrew) From West Cork,

- (Angela) Nope.

- (Andrew) Or McConnell's, or Kilbeggan

- (Angela) That's one of the,

the one shame I would say about our stores,

we don't have a lot of bottom shelf here.

- (Andrew) Yeah. - Because we just have

a more sophisticated drinker that shops here.

So when you see something on the bottom shelf,

it's never automatic

that it is something that will be cheap

and not a good experience for you.

- Yeah. No, I love it.

I'm salivating here.

We'll turn off the camera

and I'll probably do some damage with the credit card.

Say "sláinte," again.

(glasses clink) - Sláinte.

- And thank you.