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Stranahan’s Private Label

Founded in 2004, Stranahan’s is the first modern microdistillery to legally make whiskey in Colorado, and the state’s first legal distillery since prohibition.

Stranahan’s is a straight whiskey and like bourbon, is aged in new number 3 charred oak barrels. The final whiskey is a blend of 2, 3 and 5 year-old whiskeys and cut with water IMG_0025sourced from the Eldorado spring outside Boulder. Stranahan’s is distilled from a 100% malt barley base grain – the first to ever do this. And Stranahan’s is different than most all mid-west (Kentucky) bourbons. You will taste the difference the western grains bring to this bourbon.

Typically when a distiller bottles his whiskey, several hundred or even several thousand barrels are combined for a staunchly uniform taste. At Stranahan’s, they select ten to twenty of our choicest barrels, and combine them for a small batch with a reliable, yet distinctive flavor unique to Stranahan’s Colorado Whiskey. Each barrel is bottled by hand, with each label hand-signed by the distiller. The bottling process is done by volunteers.

And Payless was fortunate enough to get to select our own Private Barrel. We gathered a committee and sampled several barrels to create our own unique bottle.  Here are the tasting notes of our barrel:

Nose:  Malt & barley, oak, some IMG_0024brown sugar with a hint of toffee and spice.

Taste:  Malt & Barley, almost cereal like hit first, with some brown sugar sweetness.  Quickly oak wood enters in the middle, with some subtle hints of dried fruit.  A smooth thickness coats your mouth, leaving you with some nice cinnamon-clove spice, with a vanilla-caramel flavor entering at the end.

Finish:  A spicy malt flavor lingers a bit on the tongue, longer than most, to remind you that you have just had something unique.

Our Stranahan’s Private Label will be rolling out to all stores soon. And you can always reserve a bottle using our contact us form. Cheers!