PORTLAND, Ore. – Stephen McCarthy of Clear Creek Distillery is modulated man. A former lawyer who threw it all over to start a small, artisanal distillery in a leafy precinct of northwest Portland, Mr. McCarthy isn’t given to hyperbole, never mind jubilation. But his phone message was jubilant. “I’ve finally done it!” he exclaimed. “I’m now set to release my first eau-devie of Douglas fir.”

Such news may not splash across the pages of the national press, but it is noteworthy all the same.After all, it isn’t every day that someone sets out to make an eau-de-vie or brandy of Douglas fir. You might well ask: Why would anyone want to?

“That’s a good question,” laughs Mr. McCarthy, a tall, lanky, bearded fellow who looks younger than his 62 years. It’s tempting to attribute his youthful appearance to eau-de-vie, but while Mr. McCarthy is hardly abstemious, he’s far from Rabelaisian. Soft-spoken and serious, he’s a stubborn, methodical sort. “I’m Irish-German,” he offers by way of explanation.

Mr. McCarthy’s Ahab-like pursuit of an eau-devie of Douglas fir demonstrates this admirably. The idea of steeping the tender, lime-green spring buds of Oregon’s towering Douglas fir trees in a grape brandy is not original to Clear Creek Distillery, which Mr. McCarthy is the first to point out.

“I first tasted such an eau-de-vie in Alsace,” he said.”There,it’s called bourgeon de sapin.I thought it was good, but I thought we could do better. After all, look at the trees we’ve got here.”

Obtaining fir tree buds was not a problem. Oregon has Douglas firs the way New York has pigeons. You can’t go 5 feet without colliding with one. The problem, Mr. McCarthy discovered, was extracting the essence of the fir tree bud without creating something that he freely admits “no one in his right mind would want to drink.”

The problem, he explained, is a matter of nuance, delicacy, and subtlety. Otherwise the pine flavor becomes off-putting. “It took me nine years of trial and mostly error before I got it right,” Mr. McCarthy said. “I wanted not only the right flavor modulation but also just the right barest-hint-ofgreen tint.”This in itself is unusual, since Alsace’s bourgeon de sapin is always offered, like all other eaux-de-vie, without any coloration. (All brandies come out of the still colorless and clear.)

Secure in the knowledge that few others are obsessed enough to care to create their own eau-devie of Douglas fir, Mr. McCarthy freely shared his hard-won technique for creating this unusual and surprisingly tasty eau-de-vie.

“On June 1, everyone in the distillery heads to our orchard at the base of Mount Hood, which is surrounded by Douglas firs,” he began. “It’s kind of a party and, of course, the location is gorgeous.” That it is. At 11,249 feet, Mount Hood is Oregon’s highest mountain. Glacier-covered and triangular in outline, with no adjacent mountains to impinge on its silhouette, it’s little more than 60 miles from downtown Portland. It’s a spectacular sight.

“We carry stainless steel buckets filled with 160-proof distillate of Oregon wine,” he continued. “We pick the pale green buds at the tips of the trees and drop them directly into the bucket filled with the distillate. This, I discovered, helps preserve the flavor.”

Mr. McCarthy macerates the buds in the distillate for one week. Then he redistills the now flavor-rich eau-de-vie of Douglas fir in one of his European-made, copper-clad pot stills. Although the macerate distillate has, after a week’s steeping, acquired a deep green hue from the chlorophyllrich buds, the second distillation process removes the color. It emerges water-white.

Mr. McCarthy, in his own signature twist, decided that he wanted a come-hither tint.Why not just reserve some of the already deeply colored macerated distillate and add it back in? According to Mr. McCarthy, that’s too crude and coarse, degrading the ultra-refined eau-de-vie he’s seeking to create.

“So we return to the forest on about June 15 with the double-distilled eau-de-vie in the buckets,” he explained. “We pick more buds, which again are dropped into the buckets filled with the distillate.”

After that, the process is more art than alembic science. The second picking is more for color than flavor. So Mr. McCarthy monitors the color extraction closely, deciding when he has reached an ideal point. Then, as with all eaux-de-vie, the alcohol level is lowered (by adding filtered water) to 95 proof.

Clear Creek’s eau-de-vie of Douglas fir is a surprise on several counts. First, it’s tasty. Mr. Mc-Carthy nailed the color, no doubt about it. The palest lime green, it’s a delicate minty tint that would have captivated no less a colorist than Matisse. So it’s inviting to the eye.

The scent is fragrant and refreshing, without being overly penetrating or obvious. You get a piney whiff but only distantly so. It smells “cool.”

And the taste? It’s woodsy, slightly resinous (although nowhere near as much as the famous Greek wine Retsina) and has an extraordinarily long aftertaste. It lingers in the mouth longer than most other eaux-de-vie.

Mr. McCarthy pronounced himself satisfied with this first-ever commercial release of 250 cases of half-bottles, which sell at $49.95 for a 375 ml bottle. “After nine years, I finally achieved what I had in my mind,” he said. “Whether it’s worth the effort, I don’t know. I think it is. But it’s something I had to do.”

By the way, if an eau-de-vie of Douglas fir is a little too eccentric, you would be well advised to seek out Clear Creek’s more conventional eaux de vie. Among the array of nearly two dozen brandies, try the Williams pear brandy, which is available in the always intriguing pear-in-the-bottle version ($79.95 for a 750 ml bottle) or the same brandy without the pear ($34.95 for a 750 ml bottle). Clear Creek’s pear brandy may well be the world’s best.

Look also for the eau-de-vie of mirabelle plum, with its wafting scent and taste of honey, cinnamon, and spring flowers ($29.95 for a 375 ml bottle).

Not least is Clear Creek’s elegantly smooth and flavor-rich eight-year-old apple brandy aged in French Limousin oak barrels. It’s the only pot-distilled, barrel-aged apple brandy made in America. It will take on – and beat – just about any French Calvados ($39.95 for a 750 ml bottle; $24.95 a 375 ml bottle).