Scratch Distillery

Scratch is our favorite distillery. The creativity and passion put into the various gins, vodkas, aquavits and liqueurs is astounding. Their whiskey is distinctive too. Theres something for everyone. Scratchs cocktail recipes are also great. If you partake in spirits, Scratch is a worthy destination that will delight and surprise you.
Jun 5th, 2023

Great spirits and excellent service. Always enjoying stopping in for either a cocktail or to try out the newest flavors.
Mar 24th, 2023

Nice place to have some local liquor
Jun 23rd, 2022

Jun 19th, 2022

These guys have been on my list for years now. Friends who live an hour away have tried it, and I hadn't. Tons of local friends rave about it. There was even a YEE up here a couple weeks ago, further reminding me that I am behind on the local spirits train. We finally got lively enough yesterday to stop by here after lunch. We had to squeeze our visit in between other activities, but even an artificially-shortened visit was enough to get us flipping over what's on offer. It's one of the many cool food/drink spaces in the big shell on Sunset. Short, shallow concrete steps walking up, then several different spaces warrened together once you're inside. Everything is welcoming and spotless, and all cleanable: all wood, glass, and other hard materials. It's stylish and easy to enjoy.We tried flights of 3 vodkas, 4 gins, a liqueur, and a whiskey. We joined the bottle club on the spot, which got us tastes of 2 more liqueurs and another whiskey. In related news, for the rest of my life, I may never remember how to spell "liqueur" for any longer than maybe 10 seconds. The flights are wonderfully cheap--$10 to try 4 vodkas, 1/2-ounce pours each.  Most are flavored already with ingredients from all over the culinary spectrum--sweet, savory, etc. We loved the mint, citrus, and three-tea vodkas, buying a bottle of the latter. They bring a shot of tonic water to blend with the shots as you go, to your own ratio.You immediately get all kinds of ideas for mixing these with flavored bubbly waters and other ingredients, turning them into endless varieties of vodka sodas. They make cocktails on site and also suggest tons of recipes for mixing drinks with their different spirits. It's all a big Lego set for your liver. The gins were so good, and came with tonic water to blend to taste. Both the martini-style and G&T-style had tons of big aromatics and really had a savory quench to them, not the sandy hollow feel you sometimes get after a sip of gin. The barrel-infused gin was even more interesting, and would be fine as a neat sipper (that's so cool to find in a distillery with such a clear mix & cocktail focus). The chai liqueur was like a special holiday treat--it doesn't sound like the sugariest spirit on the market (not even close), but it had a special dessert treat quality without a doubt. The holiday gin was kinda ho-hum for me, with the holiday spices seeming to cancel out the botanicals and leaving a pretty tight and neutral flavor profile. The whiskey was clean and didn't show any burn, but it's still young and so far isn't sporting a flashy barrel quality. The port-cask version that came out with the club-member tastes  showed more barrel, and a clear port quality too. There was also a lemongrass-ginger liqueur, along with a mint-chocolate pour. Both were amazing dessert-drink candidates, though by no means were they overly sweet. The lemongrass one would blend well into a tall summer cocktail, and the mint/cacao would turn into a cool wintry pour with a heavier body. And you could probably do 50 different other things with each of them.The staff were super welcoming and open, telling us all kinds of stuff about how they make the spirits and all the other cool stuff that they do. They clearly have built on their success, with tons of swag for sale and lots of custom-branded stuff for them. Their branding is really appealing, too. We came home with two new bottles and will pick up the club release in about  month. This feels like a great way to put a couple fancier clear spirits on the bar at home every so often.
Apr 9th, 2022