I am always looking for new and different things to do in
Denver . I’ve been to many breweries and on a few brewery tours but not on a distillery
tour in Colorado. As well as being near the top in number of microbreweries of
any state and having a significant wine industry on the Western Slope, Colorado
is now near the top of the list in number of small distilleries. I guess
Coloradans just like booze!

Stranahan’s Distillery in located near the intersection of
Santa Fe and Alameda in Denver and was the first distillery to open in the
state since prohibition. I suggested it as an outing to my friends Tim and
Toby. What can I say? Although a first for me in Colorado, I’ve been distilleries
in Kentucky and Tennessee so have an idea of the process. I’m here for the free
sample!

Stranahan’s actually only makes one whiskey. It’s quite good
but retails for around $50/bottle – a little steep. I’m quite partial to the
wider range of spirits produced by Leopold Brothers, another Denver
micro-distillery, whose fifth-size bottles are more in the $20s to high $30s
range.

The Stranahan’s tour and tasting, though, was a fun morning
which we followed by lunch in their very good Rackhouse Pub, where they serve
microbrews as well as whiskey with their meals.