Hot Buttered Bourbon Cocktail
Ingredients
- 2 oz Locke + Co. Big Catch Bourbon
-
1 tbsp unsalted butter
-
1 tsp brown sugar
-
1 pinch of cinnamon and nutmeg
- Hot Water
Garnish
- Cinnamon Stick (Optional)
Glassware
- Irish Coffee Mug
Method
- Combine butter, sugar and spices in a mug.
- Pour in hot water until the butter is melted.
- Add Locke + Co. Big Catch Bourbon.
- Stir to combine.
- Garnish with a cinnamon stick.
- Serve and enjoy!
Maple Manhattan
Ingredients
- 2 oz Locke + Co. Big Catch Bourbon or Aspen Aged Rye
- 1 oz sweet vermouth
- ¼ oz maple syrup
- 2 dashes pecan bitters (optional)
Garnish
- Pecan or Cherry
Glassware
- Locke & Co Old Fashioned Glass or Coupe Glass
Method
- Combine ingredients in a mixing glass.
- Add ice.
- Stir to combine.
- Strain into chilled coupe or old fashioned glass.
- Garnish with a pecan or cherry.
- Serve and enjoy!
A-Frame
A batch-worthy riff on the classic Old Pal.
Ingredients
- 2 oz Locke + Co. Aspen Aged Rye
- ¾ oz Rockwell Extra Dry Vermouth
- ¼ oz Aperol
Garnish
- Orange Twist
Glassware
Method
- Combine ingredients in a mixing glass.
- Add ice.
- Stir to combine.
- Strain into a Nick & Nora glass.
- Garnish with an expressed orange twist.
- Serve and enjoy!
Riser Refresher Cocktail
Riser Refresher Cocktail Recipe
Ingredients
- 2 ½ oz Locke + Co. Aspen Aged Rye Whiskey
- Squeeze Lemon Juice
- Lemon Sparkling Water
Glassware
- Highball Glass
Method
- Add 2 oz of Locke + Co Aspen Aged Rye Whiskey to your glass with ice.
- Fill the rest of the glass with lemon sparkling water
- Squeeze in a lemon slice
- Enjoy
Source
Turnstyle Cocktail
Turnstyle Cocktail Recipe
Ingredients
- 2 oz Locke + Co Big Catch Bourbon
- ½ oz Cherry Liqueur
- ½ oz Lemon Juice
- ½ oz Brown Sugar Syrup (2:1 ratio of brown sugar to water)
Garnish
- Maraschino Cherry
Glassware
- Rocks Glass
Method
- Combine ingredients in a cocktail shaker three-quarters filled with ice
- Shake vigorously for 15 – 20 seconds
- Strain into rock glass container several medium sized ice cubes
- Garnish with a cherry
- Enjoy
Source
Revolver Cocktail
Revolver Cocktail Recipe
Ingredients
- 2 oz Locke + Co Big Catch Bourbon
- ½ oz Coffee Liqueur
- ¼ oz Brown Sugar Syrup (2:1 ratio of brown sugar to water)
Garnish
- Orange Twist
Glassware
- Rocks Glass
Method
- Add several medium-sized ice cubes to a rocks glass
- Combine ingredients in glass
- Stir for 10 – 15 seconds
- Express orange peel over glass
- Twist orange peel and garnish on glass rim
Source
Big Catch Bourbon Wins Gold at 2024 Denver Spirits Competition
Big Catch Bourbon Brings Home Gold
Our Big Catch Bourbon brought home Gold in the 2024 Denver International Spirits Competition!! Make sure to ask for it at your favorite Colorado bar, restaurant, and liquor outlet so you can pick up a bottle and try it yourself. For all of you outside of Colorado, hold tight as it will be available to order through our website very soon! Remember, whiskey is an Every Season Spirit so check out our Recipe page for some wonderful Spring + Summer cocktails to enjoy at your patio parties and garden get-togethers.
Harvesting Aspen for our Locke + Co Distilling Whiskey
Reliable and Sustainable Aspen Supply
We hand cut the majority of the aspen wood we use in our whiskies from family property off of Weston Pass in the Mosquito Mountain Range in Central Colorado. Utilizing the family property in Park County, Colorado ensures we will have a reliable supply for decades to come of whiskey production. That being said, we are working with other ranches and private property owners around Colorado to help work on reducing our reliance on trees from a single property. Wildfires, fungi, and changing climate conditions present potential threats to the aspen tree so having multiple harvesting locations will help us manage any of these or other potential issues. Not to mention, we are exploring aspen from different areas and see if there are any notable differences in flavors imparted into our whiskey. Maybe we will find Denver aspen trees have slight differences than ones harvested at higher altitudes!
Criteria for Selecting Aspen Trees
When assessing which trees to harvest from any aspen stand, we focus on older and freshly fallen trees for several reasons. First off, removing the older trees growing in the groves, contributes to the aspen stand regenerating. As long as the aspen stand is healthy, when trees are removed it causes “vegetative regeneration by shoots and suckers arising along its long lateral roots.” We are helping stimulate new growth and strengthen the overall health of aspen trees in the areas we are harvesting.
Benefits of Harvesting Older and Fallen Trees
Secondly, by removing the freshly fallen trees, we are helping clear space for the new growth to expand into. Without the added room we help create by removing trees (both standing or fallen), the new growth has the potential of being “choked” out when competing in limited space. It should be noted that since we only use 10 – 20 trees from the family property (depending on height and diameter) per year, we are able to leave ample fallen tree trunks to decompose, contributing to the required addition of new nutrients to sustain healthy soil for all the forest’s vegetation.
In addition, focusing on the older and freshly fallen aspen trees, we help remove potential fuel for forest fires. Despite aspen trees growing very well in fire-burn areas, we want to help ensure when fires do break out that they do not have excessive fuel causing undue destruction far over-shadowing the natural benefits of wildfires.
Lastly, by helping cull the aspen stands of olders and dead trees, it helps stimulate cross pollination of other aspen groves in the areas we harvest.
“Very few aspen seedlings survive in nature due to a variety of reasons including the short time a seed is viable, lack of moisture during seed dispersal, fungi, adverse day/night temperature changes, and unfavorable soil conditions.”
If we can help the aspen trees pollinate, creating as many seedlings as possible, the chances of new aspen stands growing and surviving increases. Anything we can do to help the aspen tree the better!
Source: US Forest Service
Using Sustainable Resources in Whiskey Production
We use vegetable-based bar-chain oil on our chainsaws to ensure only the flavors from the aspen wood are imparted into our whiskies. The bar-chain oil is essential to running chainsaws but as the movement of the chain distributes the oil along the guide bar and thus the chain, some of that oil gets spun off the chain onto the ground and the wood that is being cut. Using a vegetable-based oil ensures the wood does not get any petrol or other contaminants that have the potential of getting into our whiskey or into the soil that nourishes the aspen (and other growth on the property).
Paper Plane
Paper Plane Recipe
Ingredients
- ¾ oz Locke + Co Big Catch Bourbon
- ¾ oz Aperol
- ¾ oz Montenegro Amaro Liqueur
- ¾ oz Lemon juice, freshly squeezed
Glassware
Method
-
Combine ingredients in a cocktail shaker three-quarters filled with ice
-
Shake vigorously for 15 seconds
-
Strain into a RepYourWater Rocks glass
Source
A Locke + Co Distilling / Rep Your Water Collaboration Cocktail
The Top Colorado Whiskeys for 2024
Need some help finding your new favorite Colorado whiskey?
Top Colorado Whiskeys
- Locke + Co Aspen Aged Rye Whiskey
- Stranahan’s Mountain Angel
- Deerhammer American Single Malt
- Breckenridge Rum Cask Finish Bourbon
- Leopold Bros Bottled In Bond Straight Bourbon Whiskey
- Woody Creek Colorado Straight 100% Rye Whiskey
- 291 Small Batch Colorado Bourbon
- Laws Four Grain Straight Bourbon Bonded
- Tin Cup Straight Rye
- Old Elk Straight Bourbon Whiskey
Look no further than the brands on this list.
Maybe our famous crystal clear mountain waters make Colorado’s whiskeys so exciting. Or, perhaps it’s our high-altitude climate and rugged western spirit.
Whatever the case, it’s undeniable that Colorado is making its mark on the lips of serious whiskey drinkers nationwide.
If you’re exploring the world of whiskey, Colorado-style, our list is an excellent starting point.
Here are our picks for the top ten Colorado whiskeys you should search high and low for in 2024. Whether mixed in a cocktail, sipped neat from your Glencairn, or enjoyed straight from the bottle (after all, it’s Colorado, and we’re rugged), here’s what we’ll be sipping this year.
Locke + Co Aspen Aged Rye Whiskey
We put our aspen-aged rye whiskey in the top spot. Why? Because it’s the perfect introduction to Colorado’s unique flavors, and it’s our favorite whiskey to sip neat.
We’re whiskey-loving artisans, and we use heritage distilling techniques to produce one of the best rye whiskeys available.
Locke + Co Aspen-Aged Rye Whiskey features notes of burnt sugar caramel, poached pear, and a complex woodiness imparted by the hand-cut and hand-charred aspen discs included in each barrel.
For our money, it’s the best Colorado rye whiskey for unwinding around a campfire—or sitting in your living room.
Stranahan's Mountain Angel
At over one hundred dollars per bottle, Stranahan’s Mountain Angel is considerably pricier than most whiskeys on this list. Still, it’s an excellent special occasion sipper.
Mountain Angel is Stranahan’s oldest, rarest release. The juice is aged ten years in charred oak barrels amid Colorado’s arid, alpine climate, boosting the evaporation commonly known as the “angel’s share.”
This creates an ultra-concentrated high-quality whiskey with notes of sweet molasses and dark caramel – best served over ice.
Deerhammer American Single Malt
At over one hundred dollars per bottle, Stranahan’s Mountain Angel is considerably pricier than most whiskeys on this list. Still, it’s an excellent special occasion sipper.
Mountain Angel is Stranahan’s oldest, rarest release. The juice is aged ten years in charred oak barrels amid Colorado’s arid, alpine climate, boosting the evaporation commonly known as the “angel’s share.”
This creates an ultra-concentrated high-quality whiskey with notes of sweet molasses and dark caramel – best served over ice.
Breckenridge Rum Cask Finish Bourbon
If you enjoy whiskey with an unexpected flavor twist, you’ll probably love Breckenridge Rum Cask Finish Bourbon. Infused with fruit and spices, it’s excellent in a tropical rum punch.
Aging happens in barrels previously used to create spiced rum, soaking in the flavor of roots, barks, herbs, spices, and dried fruit peels to develop this unique whiskey.
The whiskey moves in once the rum is finished, creating a mild yet sweet spirit perfect for folks starting their Colorado whiskey journey.
Leopold Bros Bottled in Bond Straight Bourbon Whiskey
In 1999, two brothers at the forefront of America’s burgeoning craft whiskey movement founded Leopold Bros. Today, the brand is one of Colorado’s most beloved and respected spirits producers.
One of their latest creations, Leopold Bros Bottled in Bond Straight Bourbon Whiskey, has a spicy cinnamon coffee charm, with a subtle toffee sweetness that makes this bottle perfect for blending into an Old Fashioned.
Keep it simple: bourbon, bitters, maraschino cherry, orange peel, sugar cube – muddle, stir with ice, sip, enjoy, rinse and repeat.
Woody Creek Colorado Straight 100% Rye Whiskey
This Colorado rye whiskey earns its place on the list for both the drinking experience it offers and the locally minded ethos behind its creation.
With a subtle, ultra-dry flavor featuring floral aromas and notes of black pepper, Woody Creek’s Colorado Straight 100% rye whiskey is a smooth drinker true enthusiasts will appreciate.
291 Small Batch Colorado Bourbon
Like our top pick, Locke + Co Aspen Aged Rye Whiskey, 291 Small Batch Colorado Bourbon is finished with aspen for an ultra-complex finish.
The staves 291 uses are toasted, making this small-batch whiskey incredibly smoky, with a strong campfire aroma that undergirds a maple sugar sweetness. Perfect for use in a classic whiskey sour.
Laws Four Grain Straight Bourbon Bonded
We love this bottle from Laws because it’s like sipping a sliver of Colorado whiskey history.
The makers of the first Bottled in Bond whiskey in Colorado history, it’s produced following the requirements of the 1897 Bottled in Bond Act, using a seriously old school approach.
Laws Four Grain Straight Bourbon Bonded is aged in a federally bonded rickhouse for four years.
It’s the product of a single season, per the act. With an orange blossom and honey sweetness, it’s a delicious sip of the past that makes a great Manhattan!
TIN CUP Straight Rye
While it’s one of the best-known Colorado whiskeys for casual drinkers across the US, TIN CUP has a little secret—it’s distilled and aged in Indiana!
But it still earns a place on any list of Colorado whiskeys because it’s named after the town of Tin Cup, a storied mining community where miners carried whiskey and gold in the same small tin vessels. So with a cute tin lid to sip from, it’s a nice homage to Colorado whiskey’s roots.
Old Elk Straight Bourbon Whiskey
Like TIN CUP, Old Elk isn’t a straight-up Colorado-made product, as it’s made in distilleries in New York, Indiana, and Fort Collins, Colorado.
With a robust burnt oak and caramel flavor, Old Elk Straight Bourbon Whiskey also has a light coca sweetness, with a hint of cinnamon spice. With a mild, velvety mouthfeel, it’s easy to sip neat as you contemplate the whiskey wonders to come.
So there you have it—our list of Colorado’s top ten whiskeys in 2024; it’s time to get sipping.