Colorado Distillers Festival and Driving Tour

5280 Magazine suggest three distillers to visit for a taste of Colorado spirits.

To embark on your own spirits loop, grab a designated driver and start with these three spots:

 

Peach Street Distillers: Palisade-based Peach Street Distillers debuted a bourbon in 2008 that used Olathe sweet corn. It continues to make the light, aromatic drink in small batches—about 200 bottles at a time. (For comparison, major producers might turn out 1,400 barrels each day.) Local fruits are also used to make gin and brandy in small doses.

 

Roundhouse Spirits: Based in Boulder, Roundhouse produces the Imperial Barrel Aged Gin, which will appeal to whiskey drinkers. It is aged in oak casks for at least six months, revealing an amber color and smooth, yet complex flavor.

 

Dancing Pines: Utilizing an artisan-hammered copper still, Loveland-based Dancing Pines produces a variety of spirits (gin, bourbon, and rum). Dancing Pines also offers liqueurs with flavors like espresso, cherry tart, and chai, which won a Double Gold Medal at the San Francisco World Spirits Competition.

Or plan your own road trip using this great info graphic by Josh Mishell, chief idea guy for Fermentable Sugar, a marketing and design firm that works with Denver’s Rackhouse Pub.

And we might want to begin now recruiting a designated driver for next August’s Distiller’s Festival.