Ewing Young Distillery

A family-owned distillery on the historic Ewing Young Farm, a 147-acre working thoroughbred operation four miles west of Newberg on Highway 240. Ewing Young was a Tennessee-born mountain man, trapper, and trader who reached the Oregon Country in 1834 and claimed roughly 50 square miles of the Chehalem Valley. In 1836 he built a still and began producing unaged whiskey, drawing opposition from John McLoughlin of the Hudson’s Bay Company and the nearby Methodist Mission. By 1837 they had paid him to stop; Young agreed to cease production “for the present” while reserving the right to resume.

He used the money to form the Willamette Cattle Company and drove more than 600 Mexican longhorn cattle north from Alta California through what is now Northern California and Southern Oregon — the first documented cattle drive in North America, and the event that broke the Hudson’s Bay Company’s grip on the region’s livestock supply. Young died intestate in 1841, and the need to probate his estate led directly to the formation of Oregon’s provisional government in 1843. The official history of the State of Oregon begins at his funeral. The Ewing Young Oak, an Oregon Heritage Tree planted in 1846, marks his grave about 125 yards from the distillery.

Bev Root left a career as a corporate attorney in 2016 to attend distilling school and open the business with her husband Doug, whose relatives had bought the property without initially realizing its significance. The tasting room opened in September 2018. The current approach centers on sourcing, blending, and barrel-aging whiskeys — finished in Oregon white oak and French oak — with their own distillation underway on a small single-column still. The range extends to vodka, including strawberry rhubarb and pepper expressions, and rum. Cocktails and flights are both available.

The property includes covered and open outdoor seating with rocking chairs overlooking a pond and the horse farm, plus heaters, blankets, fire, and cornhole. Guests are welcome to bring their own food. It’s family- and dog-friendly, and part of the Wine Country Whiskey Trail.