GRAIN TO GLASS: SNEAK PREVIEW OF THE WHISKEY FILM

In recent years, while Colorado’s craft beer industry was busy hitting its stride and wading through a series of headline-making growing pains, the Centennial state’s distillers sat in the shadows—patiently waiting for their turn to step into the spotlight. When it takes at least three years to produce one batch of whiskey, you get pretty good at being patient. But for those hardworking and future-thinking whiskey-makers, and the local farming communities they source ingredients from, the wait to share their stories with the world is over, thanks to one Colorado-based filmmaker.

Last month, director Thomas Kolicko and his production company Traverse Image LLC, shared a sneak peak of The Whiskey Film—a documentary film about American whiskey, the people that make the whiskey, and the agricultural community that supplies them with ingredients to do so. The film’s teaser reel features Michael Myers from Distillery 291 in Colorado Springs, Colo., Lenny and Amy Eckstein from Deerhammer Distilling Company in Buena Visita, Colo., and the Cody family from Colorado Malting Company in Alamosa, Colo.

The film is currently in the early stages of filming and is Kolicko’s third feature-length documentary film. It follows the filmmaker’s second documentary, Crafting A Nation, a film about the craft beer industry which is currently being streamed on Netflix.

Photo Courtesy Traverse Image LLC

“The whiskey industry in the United States is at a very exciting time right now, as it’s following the same explosive growth that craft beer experienced a few years back,” explains Kolicko. “The Whiskey Film is more than a film about whiskey, it’s about the human spirit. It’s about strong opinions, a creative outlook, the intention of design, patience, and the stewardship of a unique craft. It’s about a refined expression of agriculture. It’s about history, education, and entrepreneurship. It’s about… well, whatever the hell whiskey means to you.”

Kolicko and his crew are currently crowdfunding to unlock new filming locations across the U.S. For more information on the film and fundraising for the film, visit: https://www.indiegogo.com/projects/the-whiskey-film#/.

LYONS-BASED SPIRIT HOUND DISTILLERS RELEASES BARREL-AGED RUM

 

TYRA SUTAKNOVEMBER 11, 2016

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It’s no secret that I like the whisky—and the whisky that the folks at Spirit Hound Distillers in Lyons, Colorado are making is some damn good whisky. But for the first time in a long time, I sipped on something other than the hand-crafted and oh-so smooth straight malt whisky on a recent visit to the Spirit Hound tasting room.

This time, I sipped on the rum—aged in a whisky barrel, of course—because when your whisky is that good, why wouldn’t you? A traditional Agrarian Style rum made with cane sugar and molasses sourced from the Caribbean, Spirit Hound’s Mountain Bum Rum has made a few appearances in the distillery’s spirits line-up since their inception in 2012.

“Rum isn’t something that we originally planned on producing,” said Craig Englehorn, Spirit Hound’s head distiller. Englehorn was is the middle of making one of the inaugural rum batches at the distillery when record-breaking flood waters hit the town—stranding Englehorn in the distillery for more than a day. The initial batch of rum produced was dubbed the “Flood Rum” and it didn’t take Spirit Hound too long to run through the first batch.

On Saturday, November 12, Spirit Hound is throwing a release party to celebrate the limited-release Barrel-Aged Rum and the return of rum to the distillery’s tasting room. The small-batch, twice-distilled rum has been aging in one of Spirit Hound’s whisky barrels for the past year, and will make its debut in the tasting room in 750 ml bottles, and mixed into two delicious cocktails: The Rocky Mountain Coloda—a delightful creamy and seriously dangerous island-inspired drink, and a Buick Special Martini made with rum, peach bitters, honey syrup and lemon juice. Both drinks will be available at the release party which will run from 11 am to 9 pm. A food truck, live music, and the chance to chat barrel-aged rum with Englehorn are also on tap for the event.