 | |
| Type | Whiskey |
|---|---|
| Manufacturer | Stranahan's Distillery |
| Distributor | Proximo Spirits |
| Country of origin | United States |
| Introduced | 2004 |
| Alcohol by volume | 47% |
| Proof (US) | 94 |
| Related products | List of whisky brands |
| Website | stranahans.com |
Stranahan's Colorado Whiskey is a 94 proof, small batch whiskey distilled in Denver, Colorado. Stranahan's was the first modern microdistillery to legally make whiskey in Colorado, and an early craft whiskey distiller in the United States.
Stranahan's was founded by Jess Graber and George Stranahan, after whom the whiskey is named, in Colorado in 2004. [1] [2] In 1998, Graber, a volunteer firefighter, met Stranahan, the founder and owner of Flying Dog Brewery, while fighting a fire at Stranahan's barn. [3] [4] They struck up a conversation about whiskey, and were soon in business together. [4] One of the first craft whiskey distillers in the US, [5] Stranahan's is said to have "kicked off the Colorado distilling craze" with its whiskey and the designation it invented, Rocky Mountain Whiskey. [6] It was Colorado's first microdistillery, [7] and the state's first legal distillery since Prohibition. [8]
The first batch of Stranahan's Colorado Whiskey was distilled in 2004 and bottled in 2006. [4] Stranahan's was sold to New Jersey-based Proximo Spirits in 2010, with operations remaining in Colorado. [1] By 2012, Proximo had increased whiskey production from around 12 barrels per week to 30, with plans to grow into the high forties. [1] [4] Stranahan's was sold in 38 states and 7 countries until 2010, when Proximo decided to scale down sales to mostly the Colorado area, maintaining the whiskey's availability in its home state. [4] [9]
Until 2019, Rob Dietrich had served as Stranahan's head distiller, after taking over from the founding head distiller Jake Norris. [3] Dietrich was followed by Owen Martin, who in late 2022 took a position with Angel's Envy.
Stranahan's is a straight whiskey, aged in new charred oak barrels, like bourbon, with the final whiskey a blend of 2, 3 and 5 year-old whiskeys. [7] [10] It is distilled from a 100% malt barley base grain, with four barleys sourced from the Colorado area, [5] and water sourced from the Eldorado spring outside Boulder. [9] Stranahan's initially used wash from Flying Dog Brewery, before moving to a larger facility and making their own wash beginning in 2009. [10]
Each barrel is bottled by hand, with each label hand-signed by the distiller, often including a note about, for instance, the music listened to during the whiskey's production. [5] The bottling process is done by volunteers, who receive a free tour and a bottle of Stranahan's for their efforts. Volunteers can sign up online on the Stranahan's website - a random lottery picks volunteers from this list for each bottling crew. Current estimates show the waiting list to be 20,000+ people long. The bottle features a metal cap, inspired by the old barroom practice of covering bottles with tin cups when the corks dry out. [5]
In 2020, Stranahan’s added Blue Peak to its line of Rocky Mountain whiskeys. In this process, they couple the high altitude distillation process and aging methods with a Solera finish, a maturation process typically used in wine, resulting in a rich and mellow whiskey. This is bottled at 43% ABV and is said the lowest-priced Stranahan's introduced to date [11]
As a one time only release in 2020, Stranahan's released Mountain Angel 10-Year-Old whiskey. This was the brand’s oldest, rarest release to date. They say it is the first and only American single malt of its kind aged 10 years in new charred American oak casks with less than 500 bottles available at 47.3% ABV. [12] They have since released a batch two that consisted of 600 bottles and now a batch 3, which is available at a lower proof of 45.1% ABV.
In 2022, Stranahan's did a limited release named Osopher which was an age-statement 11-Year-Old whiskey at 47.3% ABV finished in Imperial Porter barrels. This release was done in collaboration with Flying Dog Brewery, the beer brewery started by Stranahan's co-founder and namesake George Stranahan, who had died one year earlier. At 11 years, this whiskey dethroned Stranahans' own Mountain Angel as the oldest age-statement American single malt at the time. [13]
Once a year, Stranahan's creates a limited Snowflake Series, available for purchase only at the Denver distillery, and so called because each batch is unique, like a snowflake. In the Snowflake Series, the standard Stranahan's whiskey is finished in oak casks previously filled with wine from local wineries or other spirits, sitting in the casks for roughly 18 months. [5] [9] When new bottles of Snowflake are set to be released, Stranahan's makes an announcement on their Facebook and Twitter accounts, and people typically camp outside by the distillery the night before the release to secure a bottle. [9]
In 2012, Stranahan's began collaborating with Colorado's Breckenridge Brewery to create Stranahan's Well Built E.S.B., an English style bitter style ale 7.8% abv beer brewed by Breckenridge and aged in Stranahan's Colorado Whiskey barrels for three months. [1]
Stranahan's was featured in "Whiskey", an episode of the History Channel's Modern Marvels that originally aired on March 17, 2008. [14]
Stranahan's appears to be the whiskey of choice for character Marty Kaan in the Showtime series House of Lies .
Stranahan's is consumed by Morgan Freeman's character "Monty Wildhorn" in the 2012 film The Magic of Belle Isle .
Scotch whisky, often simply called whisky or Scotch, is malt whisky or grain whisky, made in Scotland.
Whisky or whiskey is a type of distilled alcoholic beverage made from fermented grain mash. Various grains are used for different varieties, including barley, corn, rye, and wheat. Whisky is typically aged in wooden casks, which are typically made of charred white oak. Uncharred white oak casks previously used for the aging of port, rum or sherry are also sometimes used.
Single malt whisky is malt whisky from a single distillery.
Green Spot is a single pot still Irish whiskey, produced specifically for Mitchell & Son of Dublin by Irish Distillers at the Midleton Distillery in Cork, Ireland. Green Spot is one of the few remaining bonded Irish whiskeys, along with Mitchell's three older offerings, Yellow Spot, Red Spot, and Blue Spot. It is one of only four whiskeys specifically produced for and sold by an independent wine merchant in Ireland.
Midleton Very Rare is a premium Irish whiskey, produced by Irish Distillers at the New Midleton Distillery, in the East Cork town of Midleton, from which it gets its name. A non-age statement whiskey, containing a mix of pot still and grain whiskeys, it is matured for about twelve to twenty years in ex-bourbon American Oak barrels. One of the most expensive whiskeys regularly produced by Irish Distillers, since its launch in 1984, Midleton Very Rare has frequently been the recipient of strong reviews and awards.
Redbreast is a brand of single pot still Irish Whiskey produced by Irish Distillers. It was originally bottled by Gilbey's, a Dublin spirits merchant using distillate sourced from Jameson's Bow Street Distillery. In the 1980s, the brand was purchased by Irish Distillers, the producer of Jameson. It is the largest selling single pot still Irish whiskey in the world.
German whisky is a distilled beverage produced in Germany made from grains traditionally associated with the production of whisky. The distillation of German-made whisky is a relatively recent phenomenon having only started in the last 30 years. The styles produced resemble those made in Ireland, Scotland and the United States: single malts, blends, and bourbon styles. There is no standard spelling of German whiskies with distilleries using both "whisky" and "whiskey" and one even using "Whesskey", a play on the word whisky and Hessen, the state in which it is produced. There are currently 23 distilleries in Germany producing whisky.
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Willett Distillery, also known as Kentucky Bourbon Distillers (KBD), Ltd., is a private family-owned and -operated company that produces bourbon and rye whiskey. Over the years the company has bottled whiskeys that range from 2 years of aging maturity up to 28 years.
It has been common practice in the whisky industry for more than a century for distilleries to sell barrels of whisky to blenders and independent bottlers as a means of making additional income. In fact, some distilleries exist solely to serve independent bottlers, and do not market any brands themselves.
Willett Pot Still Reserve Bourbon is brand of a bourbon whiskey produced in Bardstown, Kentucky by the Willett Distillery. It is a Kentucky straight bourbon whiskey brand introduced in 2008 and bottled at 47% abv, with 8–10 year aging. It is sold in glass 750 ml and 1.75 liter bottles. The company is identified on the product label as the Willett Distilling Company, which was the original name of the company until its name was changed in 1984 to Kentucky Bourbon Distillers, Ltd. (KBD). In October 2012, the company announced that it would return to using the Willett name as its primary business name. Recent bottlings are identified on the labels as a small batch bourbon, whereas it was originally released as a single barrel bourbon.
Peach Street Distillers is a privately owned, self-proclaimed “artisanal,” professional brewery and distillery in Palisade, Colorado. Established in November 2005 by Rory Donovan with Bill Graham and David Thibodeau, co-founders of Ska Brewing Company in Durango, Colorado.
Copper Fox Distillery is a distillery that produces American whiskey in Sperryville, Virginia and Williamsburg, VA. The owner and operator of Copper Fox Distillery is Rick Wasmund.
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Dingle Distillery is an Irish whiskey distillery established in 2012 and billing itself as an 'artisan' distillery. The distillery is located in a converted sawmill in Milltown on the outskirts of Dingle, in a Gaeltacht in the southwest of Ireland. The first whiskeys distilled and matured at the distillery were released in late 2016. In addition to whiskey, the distillery also produces and markets Dingle vodka and Dingle Gin.
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The Chattanooga Whiskey Company is a producer of bourbon whiskey and "Tennessee High Malt" bourbon whiskey, located in Chattanooga, Tennessee. The company was founded by Tim Piersant and Joe Ledbetter. The 1816 brand was launched in April 2012, and the company simultaneously announced its intention to help change local distilling laws. The launch met with some initial criticism, primarily due to where the product was made, but Hamilton County laws prohibited the manufacture of "intoxicating liquors" at the time. Local public awareness eventually became a catalyst in galvanizing support to change Prohibition-era distilling laws. In March 2015, the company opened the first legal distillery in Chattanooga since Prohibition. The first experimental whiskey, "Batch 001: Tennessee High Malt", was released in August 2017.
The following outline is provided as an overview of and topical guide to whisky: