So in yesterday’s blog, I forgot to include a picture of our “fearsome five” group.
I have had some fun times with these people. We have worked together, traveled together and even survived being in New Orleans for Mardi Gras and the Saints winning the Super Bowl together. I have some great memories with these friends and I am happy that we have the opportunity to create more.
Now, on with the vacation…
Today was a low key day. After meeting up with my uncle for breakfast, we headed into downtown to Stranahan Distillery for their free tour.
Stranahan’s is the first Colorado-born Whiskey. My biggest complaint of the tour was finding out that, currently, you can only get Stranahan Whiskey in Colorado. Their production is small and they have decided to limit distribution to their home state. It’s a shame but I guess it just means I will have to come back to buy it here.
Other than that disappointing news, the tour was excellent. Our tour guide, Kelly, was very knowledgeable about the distilling process and all things Stranahan Whiskey.
She took us through their brew house and explained their small batch process. I have to say that other than the tasting room, my favorite part of the tour was the barrel room. That musty smell combined with the oak always means there are good things happening in the room. Because of the dryness of Denver, Stranahan keeps their barrel room at the same temperature and humidity level year round.
After the barrel room, Kelly took us into the bottling room. I found it very interesting that there bottling is all done by volunteers. As long as you are over 21, you can sign up to be on their bottling crew. When the whiskey is ready to be bottled, volunteers are randomly chosen from a very long sign up list. The volunteers work side by side with the staff to bottle, cork, cap, shrink, and box the whiskey. Payment consists of a meal and one bottle of Stranahan Whiskey that you bottled to take home. Sounds fair to me.
Kelly then took us back to the tasting room where are tour began. After hearing about the process and all that goes into distilling the whiskey, we were all eager to sample this Colorado Whiskey. I must say, it did not disappoint. If you are a whiskey, scotch or bourbon drinker you know that when it’s good, it’s good. And Stranahan Colorado Whiskey is GOOD!
So, the next time you are in Denver I would highly recommend catching the Stranahan Colorado Whiskey Tour. Even if you are not a whiskey drinker, or don’t like alcohol at all, it is so interesting to hear about the process. It truly is an art form.
