Oola Distillery

Specialties

Oola Distillery produces small batches of Gin, Vodka and Whiskey. This is the real deal — spirits made with a sense of place and a connection to the people who grew the raw ingredients and the man who coaxed them into their more spirited forms. The goal is 100% use of Washington state people and ingredients from grain to glass: gins in which you can taste the botanicals, distinctive vodkas, and whiskey flavorful and smooth.

History

Established in 2010.

The corner of 14^th Ave and E Union ST on south Capitol Hill has experienced a renaissance since 2010. The Chloe Apartments brought Marjorie Restaurant, Mode Fitness, and Skillet Diner. But through all the activity, the La Pazanella Bakery building remained vacant, full of promise and the subject of many rumors over the several years since it closed. (Hardware store?! Dance club!?) Well, the building is now literally full of promise as OOLA Distillery opened in the fall of 2011 with its on-​site distillery and tasting room, then the 10 degrees space, housing KT Niehoff’s Lingo Productions (check availability as an event rental space), opened along with Lucky 8’s China House (now Bar Sue) and Restaurant Zoe. These inventive and passion-​driven venues now fill the once-​vacant building with spirit and creativity. We feel we have added to an already vibrant mix of retail and restaurant spaces in the area and we hope you feel the same.

Meet the Business Owner

Kirby K.

Business Owner

For Oola owner and distiller Kirby Kallas-​Lewis, Oola is a labor of love, intellectual curiosity and commitment to the neighborhood he has called home for more than two decades. Kirby has been studying the art and science of distilling intensively since 2009. He has participated in numerous workshops, tastings, and conferences on the topic of craft distilling by some of the leaders in the industry. A former artist and tribal art dealer, Kirby has long been interested in the power that great food, wine, art, cocktails and entertaining have in connecting people to each other and to a place. Kirby is also in the development stage of a boutique hotel in the town of Waitsburg, WA, near Walla Walla — a quiet, inspiring and rejuvenating locale set against the Blue Mountains, surrounded by rolling wheat country…