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One of the few non-southern whiskies made in the US Stranahan's Colorado Whiskey is a collaboration between the Flying Dog Brewpub owned by George Strananhan, which is next door, and Jess Graber the majority owner of Stranahan's Whiskey. Stranahans's uses 3,000 gallons of wash from the pub to distill 450 gallons of white dog which is distilled again into 250 gallons of raw 140 proof whiskey. Think of this as an American Single Malt and you'd be right on target. Unlike it's Scottish counterparts, Stranahan's is stored in a climate controlled rick house so that the low humidity of the surrounding area doesn't take more then a 4% "Angel's Share" per year instead of the 10% that would be lost with out the climate control.
The constant heat and temperature also influences the aging cycle of the whiskey and Jake Niorris the head distiller estimates that two years under these conditions are equal to about four years at other distilleries. Stranahan's also used heavily charred new American oak barrels to age its whiskey like a bourbon instead of the 2nd fill used bourbon casks like most Scotch. This imparts more of a sweetness to the whiskey then what would be normal for Scotch too. Also, they use a patented distillation process which again makes it slightly different then what Scotch would be.
So enough history and chit-chat, what's it like? The color is a dark amber and much darker then what you would expect from something that was distilled on the 17th of December 2004. At just over 2 years old this is as dark as some 10 yo bourbon. The color in the glass lightens only a little and the nose is smooth with caramel and vanilla. Tasting brings up a very slight alcohol burn but is overall very smooth too with a richness and depth beyond the short 2 years in cask. Vanilla and apple butter mix with a nice malt background which gets even better with a few drops of water added. The finish is slightly drying on the roof of the mouth but the tongue and sides enjoy an oaky vanilla for a medium length of time.
I would never have thought a 2 year old whiskey could be this good and with Flying Dog's purchase of the Frederick Brewery (renamed Wild Goose Brewery) in Frederick, MD we may see an east coast version of this yet. Also, they are experimenting with a Cabernet Franc finish using casks from Colorado's Creekside Cellars winery which should be ready in a few years. At 2 years this is good, very good, at 10 it should be outstanding. This is an ACE and I am so grateful to NullSmurf for sending me a bottle. Do yourself a favor and track this down!
