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Where is the distillery located? Ahh kudos to you, my observant whiskey connoisseur. We've moved from our original location on Blake Street near Coors Field to a new building just a few miles South of where we were. Our new address is...
Do you offer tours? We absolutely do and would love to show you around our distillery. For all of the info and to reserve a tour time for you or your group, check out our tour page here.
What makes Stranahan's different from other whiskies? While other whisky brands claim to use the finest ingredients, Stranahan’s is the only whiskey that uses the purest, freshest ingredients from the top of the Colorado Rockies. Crisp, clean water. Mountain grown barley. A specially made wash to hone our recipe to its distinctively sweet flavor. SCW is also the first and only micro distillery in Colorado and the Rocky Mountains as well as one of the first in the country. With a batch full of differences before we even start to brew, it’s a smaller task to say what’s the same. Outside of spelling whiskey with the same letter order, we’d say we’re just about as different as they come.
How to drink it The overwhelming majority of whiskies are bottled at 80 Proof. Stranahan’s Colorado Whiskey is bottled at 94 proof (47% alcohol by volume), so it is indeed stronger. If you’re used to high strength spirits, then sipping it neat is probably your choice. If your want more flavor with less fire from the alcohol, a few splashes of water will open up the nose, as well as make more flavor compounds available to the tongue. Ice has the same effect as water, but is more dramatic because of the cooling effect. We would suggest covering the bottom of a tumbler with ice and then covering that layer of ice with about a ½ inch of whiskey. That should bring your whiskey temperature down to 55-60 degrees and still retain most of the flavor. We do not suggest filling a glass with ice and then dousing it with Stranahan’s. That is, after all, what Vodka is made for.
Cloudy versus Clear A whiskey is distilled at below 160 Proof to retain more of the flavor from the grains it was made from. Those flavors are transferred through the distilling process as fatty molecules (flavor oils). Some distillers will sacrifice a certain amount of flavor for clarity at this point, and chill filter their whiskies to remove some of these fatty molecules. They get a very clear whiskey, but in the process remove some of the flavor. Stranahan’s does not chill filter our whiskey, so sometimes under ice or cold Colorado outdoor conditions, our whiskey may show some “cloudiness”. This does not mean the whiskey is defective. On the contrary, it is proof we have imparted as much flavor to the whiskey as our art will allow. For more information read Jake's blog post here.
Age Age is not a statement of quality. It’s merely a statement of age. Some whiskies need to age longer to become palatable. Some do not, because it is the barrel and the climate conditions that are the two primary factors affecting ageing. If a barrel is used, like a tea bag, it will take longer to impart its magic than a new barrel would. Levels of char, along with types of oak, also dictate how rapidly a whiskey will mature within the barrel. Most experts agree a moist climate is superior to a dry climate for ageing. Mother Nature’s high and low pressure systems, along with her heat and cold; force the whiskey in and out of the pores of the oak. Stranahan’s starts its ageing process by filling new American white oak barrels, heavily charred, with a new make of spirit that is as pure as we can make it. This means our barrels do not have to spend time extracting impurities. We then rack our barrels in a heated and humidified warehouse. Winter temperatures never fall below 68 degrees F. and summer temperatures approach 110 F. Humidity levels are maintained between 45% and 55%. This means our barrels never get a vacation. We have them working 24/7/365. By combining a refined spirit with a workingman’s barrel, Stranahan’s is able to present to you an amazingly flavorful whiskey, with a smoothness and complexity that only a Colorado whiskey can provide.
Where does your water come from? Our water comes from the snow packed peaks of the Colorado Rockies. It is charcoal filtered to remove impurities, but keeps its mineral content and flavor.
What's a 'small batch'? Rather than bottling each individual barrel separately, for an unreliable taste, small batchers choose their finest barrels and combine them for a more reliable, yet still distinctive flavor.
I have an upcoming charity event - will Stranahan's make a donation? Read our page regarding our donation policies and procedures here.
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