Chuckanut Bay Distillery Tasting room

Wonderful establishment, wonderful service.

Amazing every single time. Great staff!

Great food and paint date. Beautiful historical building.

This was a great tour! Kari was extremely knowledgeable and welcoming and we left with a far better understanding about the history of the distillery and the process that creates our favorite spirits.

God drinks and a super fun tour.

Disappointed and Frustrated — Won’t Be Returning

My friends and I (a group of six mature, respectful women) went out on Friday, 7/11 to celebrate a birthday at Chuckanut Bay Distillery’s rooftop in Bellingham. The experience started off fine—I arrived early and was told there’d be a two-hour wait, but surprisingly we were seated about 20 minutes later. The elevator ride up was charming, the rooftop view of the city and bay was lovely, and the baby seagulls nearby were a fun bonus. So far, so good.

Unfortunately, once we were seated, things took a sharp turn for the worse. Our server, Shelby, gave off an immediate sense that she didn’t want to be there. She was short, unfriendly, made little to no eye contact, and clearly had no interest in engaging with us—even when we asked basic questions about the menu or drinks. Her energy cast a negative shadow over the entire birthday celebration.

We tried to shake it off. The food, while tasty, came in small portions. The cocktails? Weak, watery, and forgettable—not what you’d expect from a distillery. We each ordered one round, and that was more than enough.

Then came the final straw: we asked ahead of time to split the check, but were instead handed one bill over $200. When we asked for it to be separated, Shelby bluntly said no, and pointed out that a 20% gratuity was already added. It felt like we were being forced to tip for service that had been cold, disengaged, and frankly, off-putting. With no help from her, we spent 20 frustrating minutes manually splitting the bill among ourselves.

This experience was incredibly disappointing. We go out frequently and have never encountered this kind of energy or treatment in Bellingham—ever. Fortunately, we salvaged the night by heading to Bellingham Bar & Grill, where we were welcomed with genuine hospitality and great drinks.

My Advice: Skip the rooftop. Enjoy the food downstairs if you must, but be warned—the drinks are weak, the service was poor, and the overall atmosphere was soured by a server who clearly didn’t want to be there. We won’t be back.

We enjoyed the tour very much. Our tour guide was very knowledge and friendly. It was a great way to learn about the process of distillation and spirit production, while tasting a few samples along the way (the coffee liquor was my favorite.) There was a restaurant next door attached to the distillery (Penny Farthing) which had a great food as well.

Best place for me!

What a wonderful and enlightening tour - I highly recommend it. Harry was wonderful and surprisingly knowledgeable for someone so young. The facilities were immaculate and the drinks were DELISH!

If you like hard booze or learning or smooth drinks or just something fun to do for 90 minutes - or all four! - take this tour!

Tour was amazing, informative, and very cool to experience the barrel aging. The spirits are fantastic, and you're supporting a Distillery that does everything right, by the book.

Fantastic if you like whiskey, absinthe, coffee liqueur, or gin, but especially whiskey.

I was so loooking forward to enjoying a cocktail at the rooftop bar. We asked directions to the elevator and went up. After being seated for a few minutes we were asked if we were part of a financial group. We said no and then were informed it was a private event.
We felt embarrassed and wondered if we had missed a sign. The bartender shrugged. We looked for signs on the way down. No signage. We mentioned it downstairs and that bartender just stared at us.
So that was three employees that could have saved us the trouble but didn't and acted like our confusion was no skin off their backs.
Well, that lack of courtesy and regard left a really bad taste. Despite the view, I will not be going back.
I'd like to put it off to bad planning and a bad night but after three employees failed, it seems more than that.

Took my parents on the tour for Father's Day! We ALL had a blast! This is my second tour with Harry, and I have to say they're the best tour guide. Definitely recommend.

The tour was wonderfully informative and very cool, Nat was an excellent tour guide!
The restaurant is delicious, and the spirits are top notch

I was treated extremely poorly by Dan, the manager where making an inquiry about reserving the rooftop for an occasion.
Dan throw out numbers meant to I iintimidate and belittle me. I am sorry to have wasted your time, my 1,000's of $$$, will be spent elsewhere.
Disappointed.

Really nice experience! I found out about this place via ChatGPT, and we’re worried that the price for the tour was not going to be worth it, but we were very surprised.

The tour was really great. Nat was really great! She explained all the process really well.

Also, there were a lot of samples, and in the end, we were able to try out all the products.

We ended up buying the coffee liquor, which was really good.

It’s totally worth it! If you are around Bellingham, this is a must!