Freeland Spirits PDX Is Officially Open (Photos)

Last week I was invited to attend the ribbon cutting at the new Freeland Spirits PDX tasting room. Located after security in the North Concession Hall, they are also in the company of places like Grassa, Steven Smith Teamakers, and Pendleton (textiles, not whiskey). It’s a sweet space with plenty of bottles of Freeland Spirits in gorgeous colors (many reminiscent of the colors of sea glass), including the PDX Bourbon (exclusive to the airport), some nice seating options, spirits and cocktail flights, and a gorgeous mural that artfully incorporates the brand.

Here are some of the things I saw and heard during my time at Freeland Spirits and the North Concession Hall.

Freeland Spirits: What’s in a Name?

Owner Jill Kuehler told us, “Freeland is named after my Meemaw.” Meemaw is Jill’s grandmother, Meemaw Freeland. On the Freeland website, they describe her as “a fiercely independent school teacher and farmer who didn’t care much for limits or shortcuts. Meemaw believed all good things come from scratch and, most importantly, a woman can be any damn thing she wants.”

On a personal note, I have my own associations with the word, “Freeland,” which was the name of the first place we lived in when my family moved us across the country to Michigan. Located in Tittabawassee Township (“the big Tit”) in Saginaw County, our modest home was surrounded by patches of wild strawberries, a pond with an ample number of frogs and turtles, with undeveloped forested areas nearby. I have many great memories of that time in Freeland.

Freeland Spirits: Some Background

Freeland is a woman-founded distillery, and is one of the few that can claim that origin in this country. Jill says that when she first started the company, she had never distilled anything before in her life. She comes from a farming background.

Here’s the backstory from their website:

“Back in 2016, Jill Kuehler was drinking whiskey with her friend Cory Carman. When Jill shared her dream of opening a distillery, Cory, who raises grass-fed beef in Oregon, confided that she always wanted to produce grain on the ranch. ‘If you make it. I’ll grow it,’ Cory said. With that, Freeland Spirits was born. To this day, Oregon’s rich bounty of grains and produce are used to handcraft Freeland’s spirits and cocktails.”

Freeland Spirits was established in 2017.

Freeland Spirits PDX

When you get through security, Freeland is right there on the right. I was there with Zoe Baillargeon of Eater, and it was lovely to finally meet!

It’s very easy to find the Freeland Spirits space, and I think has some advantages being the first thing you see in this concessions row. The look and feel is very appealing—it feels light and airy in there, for one. There’s that gorgeous mural I mentioned earlier that wraps around the space. There’s places to sit, relax, and lounge; there’s also a nice bar.

And you’ll find plenty of non-boozy things, like bottles of Portland Syrups, Portland Bitters Project collections, Portland Bee Balm, some wtih with Forest Gin, Ranger Chocolate products, Jacobsen Sea Salt, and even more Portland-based products. It’s an easy opportunity to pick up a bottle of gin or bourbon along with some other locally-made yums.

And apparently the opening of this Freeland Spirits space, marks “the completion of PDX’s highly anticipated North Concession Hall.”

I liked this quote from the press release:

“We’re giving travelers another good reason to show up early for a flight,” joked Freeland founder Jill Kuehler, referring to the distillery’s well-known bar program and cocktail flights. “All kidding aside, more travelers are realizing they can relax and get a taste of local favorites at PDX. It feels so great to be in this space, and we’re truly honored to be one of the beloved businesses selected as part of the airport’s redevelopment project,” continued Kuehler. 

Crowdfunding the Expansion To PDX

Expanding to PDX was made possible in part by a community investor crowdfunding campaign on the WeFunder platform. Interested parties could—and still can—invest for as little as $100. As of the writing of this article, they’ve raised $687,515 from over 250 investors. .

Freeland Spirits PDX Bourbon

This is a special spirit that you can only find at PDX. It’s very dark in color, and that is because the bourbon is finished in Port barrels, which I can imagine adds additional layers and depth of flavor. I asked Zoe how she liked it and she said it was delicious and very smooth.

Also … “port” … “air-PORT”… There’s a nice play on words, there.

Note the paper label adorned with the image of the famous PDX carpet, too.

The Mural at Freeland Spirits PDX

We could not stop admiring the beautiful mural visible throughout the tasting room walls. It was painted by Portland-based artist David Rice. It’s very colorful with images of flowers, fruits, with glasses containing cocktails and couple of Freeland’s teardrop-shaped bottles visible.

On the Menu

Aside from it being a comfortable space, they offer a structured tasting under the name, “PDX Tasting Flights.” You can get a gin, whiskey, or gin + bourbon flight. And then there’s the martini flight and an old fashioned flight—all made with Freeland Spirits, of course.

They’ll also have singular PDX Mini Cocktails: gin & tonic, old fashioned, and gin & jam, which involves marionberry syrup from Portland Syrups, elderflower, lemon, “and a little sparkle” all mixed up with Freeland gin. Look for seasonal offerings, too.

Finally, they have the She Flies Club, which is a quarterly membership club.

Freeland Spirits PDX Ribbon Cutting and Remarks

Around 1pm there was a ribbon cutting, officially welcoming Freeland Spirits to PDX. There were four people who spoke to us: Jill, of course, as well as Julia Amato of Travel Oregon, Curtis Robinhold of Port of Portland, and state representative Travis Nelson.

“We are celebrating this opening with a port-finished bourbon—it’s finished in port barrels, releasing yesterday, so you’ll all get to try it today,” said Jill.

Julia Amato

“So thank you, I’m going to introduce Julia next,” Jill continued. “Julia is with Travel Oregon and does communications there. And travel’s coming back to Portland, which is so exciting, and a lot of that is thanks to the work of Travel Oregon. So thank you for being here.”

“I just wanted to say thank you for being here and thank you for bottling Oregon up and providing that experience for all of us,” said Julia. “As you can imagine, I work with media all across the globe, but have the distinct honor of sharing Oregon’s story with those media. And we have a lot of stories to tell.

“We are rich in natural beauty and outdoor recreation—and of course, local food and drink. And to guide those stories, we lean on our research quite heavily, and we just completed our 2025 Visitor Profile Study. And the reason I’m sharing that is because what we learned from that study, and what we hear from media is that it is our local food and drink that’s a top driver for visitors coming to our state.

:And not only are they choosing Oregon as a place to spend their money, spend their time, create memories with their family because of our food and drink—they’re leaving here with a 90th percentile satisfaction rate. 

“So most people are satisfied or highly satisfied because of our local food and drink. So I just wanted to come today to say thank you. Thank you, Port of Portland, for showcasing Oregon, [Jill], for taking a risk and starting a business, and providing that experience. You are a critical part of Oregon’s story. So thank you for being here, and congratulations!

Curtis Robinhold

She then introduced the Executive Director of the Port of Portland, Curtis Robinhold, who has been in this position for the past decade. He has been a leader in the project to renovate the airport, orchestrating much of the work, “from the drawing to this beautiful place that it is today,” said Jill. She also thanked the team (Caitlin, Jerry, Ryan Shannon) who took a risk on her small business and welcoming it to PDX.

“I really appreciate everyone coming out,” said Curtis. “It is such a dream for us to have you all here. The first thing people see when they come through security is this great Oregon business. It’s one of 20 new concessions from the construction project, and I’ll note as well, it’s the ninth woman-owned business. It is a great partnership. 

“When we had the temporary sign up here for almost two years now, folks were just fascinated and captivated by the colors of the bottles, and also by the delicious things inside. It’s just been a great partnership—really excited for the opening.”

Travis Nelson

She also introduced representative Travis Nelson; PDX is in his district and he represents about 12,000 people who go to work there every day. She was really happy he was there.

“Thank you so much for this,” said Travis. “I’ll be brief: PDX is a national treasure. This is the best airport in the entire country, and it’s because of small businesses like Freeland Spirits. I just want to say thank you for having me in here today. 

“Businesses like Freeland spirits are unique. It adds to the uniqueness of Portland International Airport. And again, just a big part of what makes Portland and this airport so very special.”

And then they cut in the ribon.

The North Concession Hall

The intention at PDX is for this area to “showcase Oregon’s celebrated food, beverage, and hospitality culture as part of the airport’s award-winning $2 billion redevelopment project.” There are a lot of familiar names, along with Freeland Spirits: Portland Gear, Pendleton, Portland Coffee Roasters, Smith Tea, Grassa, Blue Star, Sizzle Pie.

I stopped by Grassa, which was clearly a very popular option with travelers, to get a plate of meatballs, and the guy behind the counter said, “It’s going to be a 20 minute wait, in case that affects your decision making.” It did, but I had a chance to ask him how things were going there at Grassa PDX. “Great!” he said. This location is the same as the others and the translation from the street to the airport was easy.

I ended up getting a donut—lingering National Donut Day cravings—at Blue Star. The buttermilk old fashioned was tasty, though perhaps a tad big oily in parts. The matcha lemonade they made was a great foil to the donut and I enjoyed the pairing quite a bit.

“We’re honored to be part of this next chapter for PDX,” said Kuehler. “The North Concession Hall was created to reflect the character of Oregon, and we’re thrilled to help bring that vision to life.”

Below are some photos of the Concourse D North Concession Hall area.

I even saw the Sheridan Fruit shop on the way out.

Big congrats to Jill, her investors, and Freeland Spirits PDX! I hope you’ll have a chance to check it out next time you fly out of the best airport in America.

Freeland Spirits PDX [grand opening June 12, 2026]
North Concession Hall (Gates D/E), 7000 NE Airport Way, Portland
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