Secret Shelf

This weekend, the Whiskeytown USA festival will crowd with sulfur-breathed Beavertonites downing half-ounce plastic shots of God-knows-what whiskey that's probably great. But Portland bars are full of good bottles—and not just Greg Goodman's high-dollar stash at the Multnomah Whiskey Library or bars with "bourbon" implied by their names. Often it comes at lower cost, and with more  interesting people at the next barstool. Portland has a number of fine under-the-radar whiskey spots—dives and vegan bars, places you might not know or expect to have anything good. But dear Lord, they do. 

Tanuki

8029 SE Stark St., 477-6030, tanukipdx.com.

Best known for tentacle porn and tentacled food, Tanuki also stocks every single damn Japanese whiskey you can import through the Oregon Liquor Control Commission. It goes down smooth with the tentacle porn.

Tilt

3449 N Anchor St., 285-8458; 1355 NW Everett St., 894-9528; tiltitup.com.

Why would a burger joint need 100 different bottles of whiskey? There is no way to know. But there are also rye taptails to go with pastrami-stuffed hamburgers.

Sweet Hereafter

3326 SE Belmont St., hereafterpdx.com.

This is easily Portland's best vegan whiskey bar. Next to ostentatiously Prohibition-themed Circa 33 and its stacks of bottles, Sweet Hereafter quietly has a classy 60-bottle selection, with Yamazaki Japanese whiskey ($18 a snifter), Islay and Highland Scotches, and a towering vertical of Michter's fine small-batch.

Brooklyn Park Pub

3400 SE Milwaukie Ave., 234-7772.

Amid the kitschy sports knickknacks and beaver shots lining the walls, the chalkboard of this worn-in sports dive is filled with a beautifully well-curated selection of bourbons. Case in point: Among more than 100 whiskeys, they carry only two from Oregon—McCarthy's single malt and Stein rye. This advertises taste. As do the beaver shots.

The Leaky Roof

1538 SW Jefferson St., 222-3745, theleakyroof.com.

This tiny, little-known pub near Lincoln High School is arguably Portland's greatest home to Irish whiskey, including reasonably priced vertical flights of Jameson and Bushmills, and broad whiskey jaunts through Éire's various hillsides.

Holman's

15 SE 28th Ave., 231-1093, holmanspdx.com.

Since 2011, greasy spoon and bloody mary-infusion center Holman's has expanded to include a 70-strong selection of whiskey bottles, and if you drink everything from their top-shelf Whiskey Club—with Glenlivet and Laphroaig verticals and multiple Macallans—you get your name on a brass plaque. There are many brass plaques. One of them reads "R.I.P."

The Highland Stillhouse

201 S 2nd St., Oregon City, 723-6789, highlandstillhouse.com.

Those who know whiskey know this wonderland of a two-story Scotch bar—with a pages-deep selection as long as anywhere in the nation, overlooking a meandering river and waterfalls. But because the Highland Stillhouse is in Oregon City, we always have to say it: It is wonderful here, and you probably shouldn't drive. 

GO: Whiskeytown USA is at Northwest 17th and Front avenues on Friday (4-10 pm) and Saturday (noon-10 pm), May 8-9. $28 each day, $45 two-day pass. 21+.

WWeek 2015