colorado whiskey type whiskey manufacturer stranahan s distillery distributor proximo spirits country of origin united states introduced 2004 alcohol by volume 47 % proof us 94 related products list of whisky brands website stranahans.com stranahan s colorado whiskey is a 94 proof small batch whiskey distilled in denver colorado . stranahan s was the first modern microdistillery to legally make whiskey in colorado and an early craft whiskey distiller in the us . contents 1 history 2 product description 2.1 distillation and aging 2.2 packaging 2.3 snowflake series 2.4 beer 3 television and film 4 honors and awards 5 references 6 external links history edit stranahan s was founded by jess graber and george stranahan whom the whiskey is named after in colorado in 2004 . 1 2 in 1998 graber a volunteer firefighter met stranahan the founder and owner of flying dog brewery while fighting a fire at stranahan s barn . 3 4 they struck up a conversation about whiskey and were soon in business together . 4 one of the first craft whiskey distillers in the us 5 stranahan s is said to have kicked off the colorado distilling craze with its whiskey and the designation it invented rocky mountain whiskey . 6 it was colorado s first microdistillery 7 and the state s first legal distillery since prohibition . 8 the first batch of stranahan s colorado whiskey was distilled in 2004 and bottled in 2006 . 4 stranahan s was sold to new jersey based proximo spirits in 2010 with operations remaining in colorado . 1 by 2012 proximo had increased whiskey production from around 12 barrels per week to 30 with plans to grow into the high forties . 1 4 stranahan s was sold in 38 states and 7 countries until 2010 when proximo decided to scale down sales to mostly the colorado area maintaining the whiskey s availability in its home state . 4 9 since 2011 rob dietrich has served as stranahan s head distiller after taking over from original head distiller jake norris . 3 product description edit distillation and aging edit stranahan s is a straight whiskey aged in new charred oak barrels like bourbon with the final whiskey a blend of 2 3 and 5 year old whiskeys . 7 10 it is distilled from a 100 % malt barley base grain with four barleys sourced from the colorado area 5 and water sourced from the eldorado spring outside boulder . 9 stranahan s initially used wash from flying dog brewery before moving to a larger facility and making their own wash beginning in 2009 . 10 packaging edit each barrel is bottled by hand with each label hand signed by the distiller often including a note about for instance the music listened to during the whiskey s production . 5 the bottling process is done by volunteers who receive a free tour and a bottle of stranahan s for their efforts . volunteers can sign up online on the stranahan s website a random lottery picks volunteers from this list for each bottling crew . current estimates show the waiting list to be 20 000 people long . the bottle features a metal cap inspired by the old barroom practice of covering bottles with tin cups when the corks dry out . 5 snowflake series edit approximately twice a year stranahan s creates a limited snowflake series available for purchase only at the denver distillery and so called because each batch is unique like a snowflake . in the snowflake series the standard stranahan s whiskey is finished in oak casks previously filled with wine from local wineries sitting in the casks for roughly 18 months . 5 9 when new bottles of snowflake are set to be released stranahan s makes an announcement on their facebook and twitter accounts and people typically camp outside by the distillery the night before the release to secure a bottle . 9 beer edit in 2012 stranahan s began collaborating with colorado s breckenridge brewery to create stranahan s well built e.s.b. a scottish ale style 7.8 % abv beer brewed by breckenridge and aged in stranahan s colorado whiskey barrels for three months . 1 television and film edit stranahan s was featured in whiskey an episode of the history channel s modern marvels that originally aired on march 17 2008 . 11 stranahan s appears to be the whiskey of choice for character marty kaan in the showtime series house of lies . stranahan s is consumed by morgan freeman s character monty wildhorn in the 2012 film the magic of belle isle . honors and awards edit numerous batches received liquid gold status from jim murray s whisky bible 2014 american distilling institute s gold medal winner 2008 12 whisky advocate artisan whiskey of the year 2009 10 jim murray s whiskey bible 2009 small batch distillery of the year 2009 13 malt advocate whisky of the year 2009 12 malt advocate best artisanal whiskey 2010 4 references edit a b c d jonathan shikes stranahan s colorado whiskey has been sold to an east coast liquid distributor westword december 28 2010 . margaret jackson legend hangs a sale sign denver post october 12 2008 . a b sean kenyon is stranahan s the punk rock of whiskey ask the bartender westword september 6 2011 . a b c d e f natasha gardner strange brew 5280 september 2011 . a b c d e geoff kleinman stranahan s new american whiskey drink spirits january 25 2011 . jeffries blackerby blithe spirits new york times magazine november 11 2011 . a b jennings brown the colorado spirit cowboys & indians march 2010 . josh chinn stranahan s colorado whiskey review red white & bourbon march 27 2013 . a b c d stephen wayne kasica stranahan s snowflake whiskey outside december 18 2013 . a b c malt advocate whisky awards artisan whiskey of the year stranahan s colorado whiskey whisky advocate february 2 2010 . whiskey modern marvels the history channel march 17 2008 . a b stranahan s straight rocky mountain whiskey drinking made easy december 13 2012 . amiee white beazley jess graber s whiskey business aspen peak . accessed october 7 2014 . external links edit official website retrieved from https en.wikipedia.org w index.php title stranahan % 27s colorado whiskey & oldid 733761998 categories whiskies of the united statescompanies based in coloradodistilleries in the united states2004 introductionshidden categories articles with hrecipesarticles with hproducts navigation menu personal tools not logged intalkcontributionscreate accountlog in namespaces article talk variants views read edit view history more search navigation main pagecontentsfeatured contentcurrent eventsrandom articledonate to wikipediawikipedia store interaction helpabout wikipediacommunity portalrecent changescontact page tools what links hererelated changesupload filespecial pagespermanent linkpage informationwikidata itemcite this page print export create a bookdownload as pdfprintable version languages add links this page was last modified on 9 august 2016 at 23 11 . text is available under the creative commons attribution sharealike license ; additional terms may apply . by using this site you agree to the terms of use and privacy 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