Owner Lee Medoff started as a brewer at McMenamins and co-founded House Spirits before starting Bull Run Distillery. Lee is the founder and head distiller of Bull Run Distillery in Portland, Oregon and has opened a tasting room (The Carlton Post) next door to Cuvée in Carlton, Oregon.

Medoff was born and raised in Oregon and began his career as a brewer. He moved on to winemaking when he encountered his first distilling experiences, which led him to settle on becoming a distiller, where he has been distilling legally and professionally since 1998.

He started House Spirits Distillery in 2004, where he helped create several popular craft spirit brands of which his namesake Medoyeff Vodka and Aviation Gin are the most successful. He was one of the founding members and first president of the Oregon Distillers Guild, America’s first craft distillers guild. In 2010, with his sights set on making a pure malt Oregon Whiskey, he started Bull Run Distillery. It is here that he focuses on creating dark, aged spirits, from rum made with Hawaiian cane sugar to many expressions of whiskey.

Help us welcome them to town, check out The Carlton Post, and stop in for a tasting!

Bull Run Distillery has been interested in opening a satellite tasting room for some time. When the opportunity in Carlton came about we didn’t hesitate. As a destination hub for visitors to wine country with its multiple winery tasting rooms, eclectic shops, and great food, Carlton has all the ingredients that we want for our second tasting room. It was also a chance to get closer to the people we have been getting barrels from for years for our wine barrel finished whiskies. The barrels for our Chinato barrel finished Bourbon comes from Cana’s Feast Winery. Can’t get much closer than that.

-Lee Medoff, Head Distiller and Founder, Bull Run Distillery