Spirit Hound Distillers Makes Good On A Promise

Four years ago, the Lyons distillery promised barrels of straight-malt whiskey to prospective investors. Now, the long wait is over.

BY

• TYRA SUTAK

JULY 26 2016, 9:30 AM

Four years ago, the Lyons distillery promised barrels of straight-malt whiskey to prospective investors. Now, the long wait is over.

Funding a dream as big as opening a distillery in a spirited state like Colorado isn’t easy—or cheap. For that reason, the team behind Lyons-based Spirit Hound Distillers got crafty when securing the final funding needed to make that dream a reality. Taking a page from the wine industry, Spirit Hound launched a successful “Whiskey Futures Program” just before opening to the public in 2012. In exchange for up-front funding, the five co-owners offered claims to 50 different barrels of the distillery’s inaugural batches of straight-malt whiskey. The catch? The investors would have to wait to receive their booze until the spirit reached its peak in the aging process. Just this month, that whiskey finally hit the two-year mark and is now ready to be distributed.

For Spirit Hound co-owner, Wayne Anderson, “friends and family” includes the owners and CEOs of the some of the largest liquor stores across the Front Range. Anderson, a longtime member of the craft beer industry and former national sales manager of Oskar Blues Brewery, dug through his phone list, dialing up old friends at a handful of Colorado liquor stores that might be willing to bet on his exciting new distillery venture. “They were gambling four years ago,” Anderson says. “They really supported us in the beginning, and we’re happy to be able to make good on our end of the bargain.”

In the end, five liquor stores participated in Spirit Hound’s “Whiskey Futures Program.” Spirit Hound’s crafted whiskey has since been maturing in barrels for two years—the standard amount of aging time for straight whiskey. On July 11, Anderson and his team delivered several cases to three of those supportive liquor stores: Argonaut Wine & Liquor, Superior Liquor, and Boulder Liquor Mart. Each store’s shipment was unique to the specific barrel it laid claim to with financial support four years ago.

“For us, it was mostly about Colorado businesses, and some good people, and supporting Colorado brands,” says Ron Vaughn, co-owner and CEO of Argonaut. “Last week, we went up to Lyons to taste our barrel of whiskey, and it had such great flavor.” The finished product is cask strength, meaning that it is undiluted with water and bottled at an ABV of around 62 percent. The resulting whiskey may be strong, but it's also smooth, buttery, and filled with subtle caramel notes.

If you're ready to sample some of that cask-strength goodness yourself, don’t head to the Spirit Hound distillery in Lyons—you won’t find it. Instead, grab a bottle at Argonaut, Superior Liquor, or Boulder Liquor Mart. Boulder-based Hazel’s Beverage World will receive its limited supply of store-unique bottles in early 2017. As for Wilbur’s Total Beverage of Fort Collins? Well, that outpost plans to let its portion of the spirit continue to barrel age until further notice.

COLORADO’S WHISKEY

Craft beer? Oh so 2014. Meet the new game in town. Colorado’s local distilleries are producing some amazing hootch and offering up tasting rooms with all the ambience of your favorite brew pub. Here are five of our favorite spots to relive our adventures and plan for our next excursion. (Oh, and to drink fantastic liquor and spirits.)

Spirit Hound Distillers

Lyons

The small town of Lyons, Colorado is home to some of the best mountain biking, hiking and kayaking on the Front Range. After an epic day playing in the mountains, head to the Spirit Hound distillery and post up in the quirky tasting room for a refreshing adult beverage. This distillery is quickly garnering a name for itself throughout Colorado for its line-up of spirits which include Gin—made with handpicked juniper berries—a Mountain Bum Rum, White Dog Moonshine, the incredibly smooth and devilishly deceiving Richardo’s Decaf Liqueur and the recently released Whisky—made with Colorado malt from Alamosa. The Whisky is aged for a minimum of two years in American oak barrels, and it’s damn tasty. Sip the distillery’s variety of offerings or drink ‘em down in one of the hand-crafted cocktails on the tasting room menu. spirithounds.com

Marble Distilling Company

Carbondale

Thanks to the Marble Distilling Company, the small town of Carbondale is gaining a reputation for being an exceptional place for a nice weekend getaway—complete with outdoor fun, laid-back mountain town vibes and this welcoming tasting room/inn that’s cranking out award-winning spirits and bringing new life to Carbondale’s main drag. Using old-school family recipes, co-founder and head distiller Connie Baker is creating a Marble Vodka, Moonlight EXpresso, and a Gingercello that are bringing all of the locals and tourists to the bar. And she’s winning a steady stream of medals picked up at some of the most prestigious spirits competitions in the country. And did we mention the accommodations? The Marble Distilling Company also owns and operates an affordable, eco-friendly luxury inn above the distillery. marbledistilling.com

Peach Street Distillers

Palisade

With a craft brewery, winery and distillery all located within a stone’s throw of each other, Palisade is one heck of a place to imbibe after a long day on the trails. On any given night, the tasting room at Peach Street Distillers is filled with adventurers still clad in cycling gear or hiking boots, all enjoying the distillery’s variety of offerings. From the Goat Artisan Vodka to the Jackelope and Jenny Gin to the D’Agave Tequila, Peach Street Distillers’ arsenal runs deep. But it’s the Colorado Straight Bourbon and the Peach Brandy that will keep you coming back for more. Twenty-six pounds of fresh Palisade peaches are used in each bottle of Peach brandy—and it’s simply delightful. peachstreetdistillers.com

Woody Creek Distillers

Basalt

The Roaring Fork Valley is home to gold-medal fishing waters, backcountry adventures and miles and miles of biking and hiking trails. After a day soaking in the beautiful Colorado sunshine, hit up the cozy and comfortable Woody Creek tap room to pay homage to the most prolific vegetable in the region—the potato. The folks behind Woody Creek Distillers are growing and harvesting potatoes locally, and they’re using them to make 100-percent potato vodka, which they’re packaging and selling all over the country. The distillery is also making a Gin and a Colorado Straight Rye Whiskey which is every bit as smooth as it sounds. woodycreekdistillers.com

Montanya Distillers

Crested Butte

Crested Butte is one of those must-visit Colorado destinations in the summertime, with exceptional Singletrack, breathtaking views on Kebler Pass and that mountain town charm that rivals any across the state. But at the end of the day—when the sun goes down and the trails empty out—the outdoor patio at Montanya Distillers fill up. Enjoy one of three of Montanya’s award-winning high-mountain rum options, which are delicious on their own, but also quite delicious in one of the tasting room’s hand-crafted cocktail concoctions. montanyarum.com 

Wyoming Whiskey

It may not be in Colorado but meet the distillery our readers voted

BEST OF THE ROCKIES

Winner of our Best of the Rockies reader poll, Wyoming Whiskey is located in the small town of Kirby, Wyoming. While the surroundings are nothing short of an outdoorsperson’s dream, the distillery itself draws in hordes of tourists on its own each year. It uses local grains, and the limestone-rich water from the area to make incredible whiskey, which is currently available for sale in nearly thirty states. Visit the distillery’s Whiskey Shop and see why the small batch bourbon whiskey, single barrel bourbon whiskey, and barrel-strength bourbon whiskey are flying off the shelf. wyomingwhiskey.com

COLORADO DISTILLERY PIONEERS WATER & ENERGY EFFICIENCY SYSTEM

TYRA SUTAKFEBRUARY 17, 2016

BLOGSGO OUTSIDETYRA’S TRAVELS0 COMMENTS

The historic old town section of Carbondale, Colorado got a major boost last spring when renovations to the building at 150 Main Street were completed, revealing a new distillery, tasting room and inn, as well as a look at the future of sustainability in the craft beverage industry. 

In May of 2015, the Marble Distilling Co. & The Distillery Inn officially opened up to the public and introduced the world to the building’s celebrated green design elements that more than exceed the Town of Carbondale’s Green Building Code requirements. Using a Water Energy Thermal System (WETS™) pioneered by the distillery’s ownership and design team, MDC is making waves in the distilling industry as the first craft distillery in the U.S. to recapture 100% of it’s process water and harvest the energy from that water to heat and cool the building, which features a distillery, tasting room, five inn rooms and an event space. The innovative system recirculates and stores heat and cold water, eliminating hot water discharge to the sewer as well as the use of fresh water for cooling operations. Through a series of heat exchanges, improved controls and two 5,000 gallon storage tanks, the distillery is on pace to save 4 million gallons of water and 1.8 billion BTUs (enough energy to power twenty Carbondale homes) in their first year of business. 

The forward-thinking WETS™ design system has earned the Marble Distilling Co. the Exceptional Implementation of Sustainable Technologies award from the U.S. Green Building Council of Colorado as well as significant grant funding from the United States Department of Agriculture and the Community Office for Resource Efficiency. The WETS™ system along with the distillery’s 4.85 Kilowatts of rooftop Photovoltaics has also merited MDC a Zero Energy Performance Index rating of 6.98, falling well under Carbondale’s minimum requirement rating of 47. 

The forward-thinking team at the Marble Distilling Co. expects the payback of their long-term sustainability investment to take less than ten years. In the meantime, owner and distiller Constance Baker is committed to inspiring the craft beverage industry to take action on reducing the high volumes of water being wasted in distilleries and breweries on a daily basis. And when the team at MDC isn’t busy researching ways to become an even more sustainable operation, they’re busy producing award-winning spirits like the Moonlight Expresso, Crystal River Vodka 80 and Gingercello. Check out the distillery’s innovative design by visiting the Marble Distilling Co. tasting room during their hours of operation Tuesday through Saturday, or book a stay at one of the Inn’s modern rooms situated above the distillery and tasting room.