Colorado Front Range Craft Distilleries: Part 1

Cheers!

We’ve been on a kick lately. It all started when my new company, 3 Aspens Media, decided to donate bottles of local spirits to a fund-raiser dear to my heart. Benefiting the Friends of Warm Hearth, our Colorado chapter of the Society for Orphaned Armenian Relief has an annual fund-raiser for Warm Hearth’s art programs. As part of that, a raffle is held.

And thus our distillery obsession began. We decided rather than just purchase some bottles for the raffle, we’d make a day of touring some of the local craft distilleries in the Front Range.

Since that first day – when we visited two distilleries – we’ve visited five more and expanded our liquor selection considerably. There are more, and we intend to visit them. But for now, here’s Part 1 of my take on the distilleries we visited.

Spring 44 is filled with character. Here's a shot of its stills. Photo copyright The Gnome Knows Best

Spring44, Loveland, CO – Best for Gin

Spring44’s thing is its water. The craft distillery literally takes a truck into the mountains and draws water from a parcel of land it owns at 9,000 feet in the Buckhorn Canyon. This was our first visit, and I was surprised at how much I liked the gin – mostly because I had never really ever had gin. I always assumed I wouldn’t like it. But I did. And now we own a couple bottles. We took the tour – I recommend you do so – and learned a lot about making gin and vodka. Spring44 has a line of gins, as well as vodka, including its signature honey vodka. It is also good. I wouldn’t mix honey vodka with anything unless I could figure out how to make the delicious cocktails the bartender made me in Spring44’s bar.

Spirit Hounds in Lyons, from the outside. Photo copyright The Gnome Knows Best

Inside Spirit Hound in Lyons. Photo copyright The Gnome Knows Best

Spirit Hound Distillers, Lyons, CO – Best for Atmosphere

As I write, I’m drinking a glass of Richardo’s (say it as an American would, pronouncing the ‘h’) coffee liqueur. Yum. Just enough sweetness and coffee-ness to satisfy me. Spirit Hounds is in an unassuming red building on the south side of Highway 66 on the way into Lyons. I’d driven past it dozens of times and not noticed it. So I was surprised how comfortable the inside was. Spirit Hounds makes far more than liqueur; it has a whiskey, gin and rum. Stop by and try out its lovely concoctions.

Enjoy chill live music as you sip your spirits at Still Cellars in Longmont, CO. Photo copyright The Gnome Knows Best

Still Cellars, Longmont, CO – Best for Soul

Disclaimer: We had been to Still Cellars before this latest mission to try all the craft distilleries in the area, but my feeling still stands: Still Cellars has the most soul of all the distilleries we visited. We revisited this distillery and art house, which features regular live music, in pursuit of the perfect bottle to donate to the fund-raiser.  What we decided on: The Apple Straightup, an unoaked brandy featuring apples from Colorado’s Western slope. Somehow they get 15 pounds of apples in each bottle. The owner-operator team of Jason R. Houston and Sadye Rose W. feature certified organic spirits, hand-crafted in Longmont. Check it out on Wednesdays or Friday, or go to their website to find out about special events.

A little chess and a mule at Golden Moon Distillery's Speakeasy in downtown Golden, CO. Photo copyright The Gnome Knows Best

Golden Moon Distillery (Speakeasy), Golden, CO – Best to Sit Back and Relax

We spent a few hours at the Golden Moon Distillery’s Speakeasy on Valentine’s Day playing chess and – wait for it – one game of Battleship (old-school style). Golden Moon Distillery’s tasting room/actual distillery wasn’t open on the day we visited, but it has a Speakeasy in downtown Golden. Well worth a visit, and you can do all the tasting you want of its spirits there. Which we were happy to do. After that, I enjoyed the gin mules. Maybe a little too much!

Stay tuned for Part 2!