Boulder Spirits (Vapor Distillery)

Drew H (00:08):
Welcome to Whiskey Lord's Whiskey Flights, your weekly home for discovering great craft distillery experiences around the globe. I'm your travel guide Drew Hannush, the bestselling author of Experiencing Kentucky Bourbon second edition, the Lost History of Tennessee Whiskey, and the new book that bust 24 of Whiskey's biggest myths Whiskey lore, volume one. And to say that the great 48 tour hasn't quite worked out the way that I planned it. Well, I mean, the original goal was to be on state number 36 by this episode, and I was going to be starting my Western State finale. Well, it appears that I'm going to start my Western State finale, but I only really made 17 states so far. So the next 11 distilleries will get me over the half mark, and over the next couple of months, maybe I'll get a chance to actually knock out more of the states.

(01:03):
But all 48 is going to be a little bit tough to handle this year. We will see, one of the things that has been going on with me is trying to craft a new book called Experiencing American Whiskey, which I'm working on, but I've also been working on some podcast ideas. And so part of this trip out west started at a podcast convention where I was trying to pick up a few tips and tricks, and one of the themes this year was about you need to be doing video. Because even though people like podcasts in audio format, they usually find you through video. So I have avoided video for a long time, and I think part of the reason for that is because of the production time. It's not that I don't enjoy making videos, I do just, it takes a lot of time to do so, and I keep trying to find ways to optimize my time.

(01:58):
It's part of the reason why I love when people join my Patreon because the more financial help I get, the more I'm able to create more content, more unique content, and hand off some of the more time consuming elements to a third party. So one of the projects I have for this fall is to start a new video series called Truth or Lore, which I will also be sharing the audio of here on the Whiskey Lore podcast. Stay tuned for that. Meanwhile, after going to the podcast convention in Dallas, it's time to board a flight and head to Denver. And this is where I'm going to be kicking off this western swing. And I got a call from Christopher Davis who was putting together a whiskey festival at the Hotel Polaris in the shadow of the Air Force Academy in Colorado Springs. And it was going to be an evening event on a Friday night.

(02:56):
I was flying in Thursday night, so I thought, well, why don't I squeeze in a Denver area distillery to start off the great 48 on this particular swing and talk about an embarrassment of riches. I've been to a lot of these distilleries laws, strand of hands, Leopold Brothers, ua. So where was I going to go? Well, I've had a lot of these distilleries already on the podcast, but the one place that I went to that I thoroughly enjoyed where I haven't introduced you to the founder is Boulder Spirits and founder Alistair Brogan. He's great to chat with. He's from Scotland. We're going to learn more about him during our conversation here. The first time I was there, I was just amazed at the quality of the spirits that they were making, learning about their water source, and also seeing their one Forsyth pot still, and learning about how he goes about utilizing that one pot still to double distill his spirits. And so this time I wanted to dive in a little bit more into his background and also about the spirits that he's making. And so we're sitting at the bar in the distillery and going to jump right into our conversation. So Alistair, first let's kick things off by finding out a little bit more about where in Scotland you came from.

Alastair B (04:15):
So I was brought up in a place called Motherwell, and Motherwell was known for its soccer team and for a big steelworks, we used huge steelworks called Ravens Creek in Motherwell. So I was brought up, there we're about 10 miles south of Glasgow as a reference point. Went to school in Glasgow, went to university in Glasgow as well.

Drew H (04:37):
Interesting to note that when I came back from Aaron, the place I stayed that evening was Motherwell.

Alastair B (04:42):
Oh, you're kidding. Oh, right, okay. Yeah, Motherwell right on the main artery, M 74 all the way down to England. So it's quite a popular area just south of Glasgow.

Drew H (04:53):
Okay.

Alastair B (04:54):
Yeah, that's interesting.

Drew H (04:55):
That's

Alastair B (04:55):
Funny.

Drew H (04:56):
So what was it that got you to say I'm interested in moving to America?

Alastair B (05:03):
Well, I came out of school, joined the military, was in the military for 10 years, went into a business for about 15 years, fuel distribution, oil and gas. Interesting. That's again distilling, but I never looked at it that way. And then when I was about, let me think now, how long ago? And I was about 40. I got married to an American, and she originally is from Pennsylvania, laterally Florida. And then I sold my business unexpectedly in 2009. We'd be married for a few years, and I one day turned around and said, Hey, we could actually move to America for a period of time. And within nine months of making that suggestion, early in our marriage, we were living here.

Drew H (05:50):
Wow.

Alastair B (05:51):
It was a massive move. Yeah, nine months we came over, we looked at a map of America, and now I'd been to America quite a few times, a couple of dozen times, looked at a map of America and literally just completely said no to North

Drew H (06:08):
Because

Alastair B (06:08):
That was too cold, completely said no to the south. It was too hot. West coast was too crowded, east coast, hurricanes, tornadoes.

(06:17):
And my wife actually said, I don't know if we would do well in Boston. They're very, very smart in Boston, and she regrets ever seeing that now because I still give her a hard time about that. But we knew Colorado. I'd been to Colorado many times. She had been a couple of times. We packed the kids up, 1-year-old and 3-year-old. We came across to Boulder because we'd heard of Boulder and we'd done research, spent a month in Boulder, loved it, absolutely loved it. Before we had left, I'd put an offer in the house, and then when we went back, I then had to apply for my residency, which is very easy as long as you don't have a felony and you've been married at least two years. And then we moved across, and that's 13 years now.

Drew H (07:00):
Wow. Were you thinking whiskey when you came over?

Alastair B (07:03):
I was thinking, what do I want to do for the third part of my life, as in the third career, third part of my life, because I'm now 57, and I did a lot of research. I had several friends who were master distillers in Scotland, listened to them, researched it, researched it, went to Forsyth of Roth, spent time with Richard Forsyth, purchased the still, it was a waiting list at the time. It was boom time for them, bought the, still put my name down, and then started doing more research. So this was meant to be a hobby. I was going to come in, I was going to find a location, start laying down whiskey, and really do it as a hobby

Drew H (07:47):
Because

Alastair B (07:48):
I was doing consultancy for a law firm in Family Business resolutions. I mean, I was going to transfer and come over here and try and do that here, but that it takes a lot of time to build that up. So as soon as I started laying down whiskey, it was full time. So I was sort of not exactly the plan that I wanted, but a plan that came out. Well.

Drew H (08:11):
Yeah, over in Scotland, they're sometimes very critical of the size and style and dent in a pot, still trying to find a particular flavor and style. Were you thinking through any of that stuff when you were picking out how to have a pot still made?

Alastair B (08:28):
Well, interestingly, when I spoke to Richard Forsyth, one of his first questions was, are you bringing a consultant in with you? And I went, no. He says, thank God. He says, because all the consultants do is try to talk to justify their fee. And the reality is, I'm going to design you a still that's specifically going to give you a unique whiskey, first of all, because every pot still that's made will give you a unique whiskey, and it's almost impossible to recreate that. So he said, we'll make you a pot still that's going to give you a unique whiskey, a great whiskey, but also because you're in Colorado, he said, and because the rules at the time were new charred oak barrels,

Drew H (09:11):
He

Alastair B (09:11):
Said, I'm going to make you a pot still that's going to give you a reflux that is going to give you a heavier whiskey, a more oily whiskey. And he said, that's really what you're wanting. And he said, I was just have had a long conversation at the time with Balcones with the guys from Balcones, and he said, so I'm very familiar. And he actually brought out a bottle of Balcones whiskey, and he said, there's not many people are doing whiskey, but he said, I know American whiskey, so I'll design you a pot still that's going to give you that little bit of more, sorry, less reflux, heavier whiskey combat that new charred Oak Barrel.

Drew H (09:47):
It's interesting to note, because I don't know a hundred percent of the history of Balcones, but you've seen the way that pot still looks now with its coil above it. So how the heck does any whiskey get up to the top of the still and get out? I mean, so I'm sure now part of it's heavy character. It comes from that. I don't know if before they put it in that warehouse, if it was running that same way.

Alastair B (10:11):
Not sure, because there was lots of chops and changes. Bob's chip Tate left Ess Diageo then bought them out, but they were actually using the same, I'm not going to say we were the first, but we were one of the first in the US because our oldest whiskeys now coming up 10 years. So it was really, really new. And there's now more and more of those pot stills in the us. Copper works out in Seattle, have got a couple of those, but there's more and more appearing.

Drew H (10:41):
Yeah. Had they been making stills in the US beyond Balcon in this kind of a region where you're going to have a lot more pressure, you're higher up in the mountains?

Alastair B (10:56):
No, I don't think they had done many, but they were overrun by inquiries within a couple of years of me getting the still. They were over here and their waiting list went up higher and higher. But a lot of the craft distilleries make their own pot stills. So a lot of the craft distillers in Colorado, 130 of us have maybe made their own pot stills or brought over. There's a couple of Spanish pot stills that they brought over. So yeah.

Drew H (11:32):
Yeah,

Alastair B (11:32):
I think str of hands

Drew H (11:34):
Is a somewhat homemade still, is it not?

Alastair B (11:37):
Yeah, it hybrid A

Drew H (11:37):
One,

Alastair B (11:38):
So it's half the size of our pot still, but it's a pot column,

Drew H (11:44):
So

Alastair B (11:44):
It's a really unusual system that they've got

Drew H (11:49):
For American single malt,

Alastair B (11:50):
Especially for American single malt. And actually Strands were really, the Balcones are old St. George's. I don't even know where St. George's

Drew H (11:59):
Are. It's in California. It's near Oakland.

Alastair B (12:01):
Okay.

Drew H (12:02):
So I had to look it up. I was thinking about maybe going out in that

Alastair B (12:06):
Direction on the, yeah, I mean Pete Tingle malt whiskey, it was one of the oldest, but Stranahan's is one of the oldest single mo whiskeys. I mean, in fact, they were bought over by Proximal even before I even arrived here. So they are one of the

Drew H (12:23):
Biggest. Okay. Let's take you back to when all of this started and your expectations for what you were going to make versus now you're in the mountains and you're doing the distilling on this Forsyth pot still and you're getting the liquid coming out of it. How did you envision it going and how much did it change in what you ended up with?

Alastair B (12:51):
I think I envisioned it to be, as I said, a hobby,

Drew H (12:57):
But

Alastair B (12:57):
It turned out full time. I'm very proud of what we've created here, very proud. The two previous careers have been fun. This is probably the funnest of the careers I've had before. I feel as though I'm creating something, creating something unique and different and just when we sell, when we do tastings, it gives me huge, huge amounts of pride. Has it turned out the way I thought it was not really very, very different, but I'm more than happy and satisfied.

Drew H (13:36):
Okay. Did you start with bourbon or did you start with an American

Alastair B (13:40):
Single? So we started with single malt immediately, and I thought going by what I expected, I thought I'd be able to turn more and more people into American single malt whiskey, but I realized very quickly I had to do a bourbon. And the bourbon was essential because to be honest, Americans drink bourbon. That's what they were brought up with. I was brought up with single malt whiskey. Americans are brought up with bourbon. So I had to do a bourbon. So I was maybe about six months, eight months after I sty laying down single malt whiskey, the realization took hold, started laying down bourbon. And to be honest, bourbon is 50% of our sales, so it's 50 50. Although we promote single malt more than we promote bourbon, it's 50 50 as far as the sales are concerned. But I want to do a bourbon that was dramatically different.

(14:22):
And this is the great thing about crafted distill is they take a lot of risk without maybe seeing the economic viability of things. And sometimes a lot of the times it's not blind. They know they're taking a risk, but it's worth it. So what we did was Americans don't use multi barrels of flavoring to bourbons. They might use 5% to, it's very enzymatic. It helps break down the sugars, starts into sugars. So you've got high heated bourbons, you've got high rye bourbons. These are the main flavors, but not multi barley. And when asked a lot of really eminent distillers, why don't you use bourbon as a flavoring? Their answer to me is the same as Scottish distilleries give me is that's not how we do it. Well, craft distilleries can do things differently. We have got a bourbon that's 51% corn take for a bourbon, 44 multi barley, highest multi barley in the us, and nobody was doing this and 5% rye. And what that gives for me as a single malt whiskey drinker primarily is it comes that heat and sweet and Kentucky hug you get from a high corn content

Drew H (15:30):
And

Alastair B (15:30):
It adds another dimension that other dimensions malting it. So I get a lot of bourbon drinkers who really have never really drunk single malt will taste our bourbon and go, oh my goodness, what's that flavor? I said, that's malted barley now taste our single malt whiskey. So you're bringing people onto that malt. And as a result, and I'm proud of this, is that our cast strength, single malt, sorry, cast strength bourbon, won the world's best small batch bourbon at the world whiskeys last year, but we can't make a huge amount. I think this year we're bringing out a thousand bottles. But yeah, and that's the fun side of the craft distilling is that you can do these things. And now I've just noticed some bourbon guys are now using 30% malted barley, 15% malted barley. It's happening. And I'd like to think that I helped start that.

Drew H (16:25):
The one I think of is Chattanooga, they make a high malt. Theirs I think was really kind of born out of the fact that they had a brewer come in. And I'm seeing a lot more of that where brewers are being brought into turn into master distillers. And when you do that, they're going to have that experience.

Alastair B (16:48):
I think when I think about the people, a lot of the people who are running distilleries in Colorado, I can only speak for Colorado, A lot of them have been, you just mentioned for example, ua, the ua, Patrick was a brewer originally and then a distiller, I believe so, yeah. They bring a lot to the party because they are changing the yeast profiles to give different flavors of changing the mash bills to different flavors. Obviously not hops, but they're able to do those because that's the base of all, as I say to people, and they sign a look at me in a weird way, at the end of the day, whiskey's un hot beer distilled twice, and people have got to take a second thought going, hold on, that's too simple. But it is that simple. It's un hot beer distilled twice unless you're fireball or screw bowl or something like that. That's what it's,

Drew H (17:41):
Well, the other thing too, I remember on my first trip through Kentucky, I saw some hybrid stills, but not many. And the larger guys are all using column stills.

(17:53):
So in reality, you're taking bourbon back through the way it was made in the early 18 hundreds. If you're going to be putting it on a pot still. Do you find that you're getting a lot of interesting flavors? You probably, because you have so much malt in it, you're going to have some of that scotch experience in making cuts and what you're getting top to bottom in the hearts. Do you find it the same with your bourbon that you want to take wide cuts on it, or do you feel like you need to narrow them down because it's more corn?

Alastair B (18:28):
We do the cuts the same.

Drew H (18:30):
Do you? Okay.

Alastair B (18:30):
We do the cuts the same because of that incredibly high malted barley content. The cuts the same. We also do, we do a pitied whiskey as well, and what you tend to find is that the cuts for pitied whiskey tend to, they delay that tails cut in Scotland, we do the cuts exactly the same.

Drew H (18:51):
Okay.

Alastair B (18:51):
And because again, I think I said to you earlier, in Scotland, every Penny's a prisoner. So they try and squeeze every single last thing out. And so in Kentucky as well, I think with craft distilling, we've got a little bit more to play with. So I'm cutting very early for ped whiskey, but I don't want a heavy ped whiskey. And I'm cutting some of the latter flavors off that peat, which I think has proven, proven good because our PT mall has come out really, really well. It's more of an expression of Pete rather than a Pete bomb. No.

Drew H (19:28):
Okay. The other thing that you deal with here, probably definitely more than they're going to deal with in Kentucky, is again, pressure. The idea being how did you find things aging in the barrels here? And is there a way that you can protect it from over aging? And you were probably starting with charred barrels. Are you still on charred barrels?

Alastair B (19:52):
We are. So we use a chard number three.

(19:54):
And when we first started off, there is an element that you pick your char and you try and stick to it. Although we don't now have got a combination of char number two and number three, because we now feel as though we can do that sort of blending. There is a subtle difference. There is a little bit more oakiness on the char three, the sugars come out a little bit different. But one of the most fascinating things about I think America and America distilling is all the microclimate that you have and the microclimate going from incredibly dry to very humid, but cold, humid and hot, humid, and different altitudes. So there's two things that Colorado specifically gives whiskey. The first thing is our angel share is

Drew H (20:45):
Huge.

Alastair B (20:46):
We are losing four, four and half percent per annum.

Drew H (20:50):
Wow.

Alastair B (20:50):
We just emptied a few Kentucky barrels there. At 17 years old, they were around about the 3%, whereas in Scotland, it's what, less than 2% that they're, because the barrels are breathing at such a rate because of the swings in temperature, day, night, summer, winter. And that is just sucking the new make spirit into that spongy char filter and pushing it out at an alarming rate here in Colorado. That's the first thing. The second thing impact is the dryness and the dryness. Then what happens is pulls those water particles out at a different rate or a different proportion than the ethanol particles. So again, going back to Scotland, you'll put it in at 1 25 and it goes down.

Drew H (21:36):
You

Alastair B (21:36):
Put it in again, those barrels that we just 17 years from Kentucky, one 20 went up to 1 31. We've just emptied a barrel that we put in at 1 28 years ago, and it's at 1 65.

Drew H (21:50):
Wow.

Alastair B (21:51):
It's now higher than what we distilled it at, and you can't take it in a plane. It has it been. So 1 65, that's the highest we've hit, and we put it at one 20. What you do find is all the Colorado distilleries are starting to put them in lower 1 5, 1 10 doesn't make a massive difference. You need more barrels if you're putting it in at that. But we also find some of the distilleries in Colorado, and we are, one of them is maybe after four or five years, we just put a little bit of water in it.

Drew H (22:24):
We

Alastair B (22:24):
Just proof it down, proof it down, because if you're getting so low, there's so much heat in that barrel that there's almost an acceleration of that loss. So by adding a little bit of water, we have found that it helps a lot.

Drew H (22:42):
Have you adjusted over time? Because a lot of people are now extolling the virtues of lower proof points going into the barrel. So as to mediate that issue

Alastair B (22:52):
We have, we've lowered, we've lowered it, how much difference it's going to make to the taste and flavor, we don't quite know yet because we haven't got to that age, but four or five years, you're going to maybe see the real or you're going to be able to pick up the differences. So yes, the answer is yes. And a lot of the Colorado, the big guy, the big bourbon and single mal whiskey guys in Colorado are doing the same. They're lowering that proof.

Drew H (23:20):
Yeah. You said you got a barrel that's coming in near 10 years now. How is it doing in terms of, I am sure more than half of it is evaporated by now.

Alastair B (23:31):
Yes. So we're going to be 10 years. Our first 10 years is going to come out in about seven or eight months. And yes, we've lost a lot of it. And the danger, again, as I said, we were talking about having a still with the rescue, sweet fox, heavier whiskey. The danger was always when we started this is that we're going to get too okie as a scotch whiskey drinker. Everything's too okay to me. So I've had to learn over those 10 years to go past that oakiness and really see the depth of the whiskey underneath that, because it still is okay to me, but I give it to a lot of people. I've got a lot of samplers who I'll take it trusted people. I'll take it and say, how's this doing? How's this doing? And they'll tell me, because there've been bourbon drinkers all their lives. They'll go, no, you're fine. You're fine. So 10 years is probably 10. 11 years is probably, we're going to get to a, we're going to probably run out anyway, or if our whiskey at that age, but also it might just be too, okay, now some people will put it in totes, they'll take it out of the barrel of that. Some people might put it in air conditioning. So climate control a little bit just to slow things down.

Drew H (24:53):
You can go the Macallan route and you can put it in a fancy glass bottle, and then people will never drink it.

Alastair B (24:59):
Yeah.

Drew H (25:02):
You just make it a collector's whiskey

Alastair B (25:03):
Sit on a shelf.

Drew H (25:04):
Yeah. Yeah, absolutely. As many ways, the skinny cat as they say. So you've been here for a while. You've got friends back in Scotland, I'm sure if they sampled it. And what kind of responses have you gotten if they

Alastair B (25:19):
Have? So one of my proudest moments was we started getting distributed in Scotland, and I went over and went to the Inri Whiskey Club tasting events, Glasgow, Edinburgh. And I was pretty nervous because they didn't expect a Scottish accent, a guy coming over from America. And so it made for fantastic conversations. But I think when you're a whiskey lover, I think you want to experience everything. And I think you want to be able to try everything. And they don't really, the Scots have moved away from this. Scotland's got the best whiskey in the world because whiskey, whether it be Tasmania or Japan, there's phenomenal whiskey. So the real whiskey guys want to taste new experiences. We're distributing Kentucky as well, very small way. And again, I went down there and gave the whiskey guys that wanted to taste it. And again, they were very accommodating. They wanted to taste new whiskeys. And if you listen to some of the social media guys now they're realizing that there's some phenomenal whiskeys that are outside Kentucky and Kentucky guys know that as well. It's not, we're better, we're different.

Drew H (26:37):
You're different. Yeah. This has always been my thing is really trying to get people to stretch beyond and see, partially I did it because I wanted to understand the history of other countries and their whiskeys for me to be able to tell America's story,

Drew H (26:53):
Because

Drew H (26:53):
You can't really know the American story unless you know the Irish story, the Scottish story, as well as the German story and the rye grain coming over. And all of these different areas have had influence on what happens here. So it's good to see that it is growing that way. You took on the name Chieftain. Where does that come from?

Alastair B (27:18):
Do you know? It was a little bit of a tongue in cheek name, title I gave myself because, and I'm going to be rude about Americans, and I'm allowed to be rude about Americans because I'm now an American citizen, but as my wife says, it's all right to be rude about Americans, but not in a Scottish accent. So I love the way Americans love their titles. Vice president, acting vice president, vice president of this. So I just thought, oh, I'm going to give myself a title. So I gave myself a title of chieftain, but I get asked that quite frequently. But it was tongue in cheek to Americans love their titles. Nice.

Drew H (28:02):
So you're expanding. The whiskey is out to more states, which is great, but also you've got a new experience here in Boulder.

Alastair B (28:11):
So we've got a tasting room here, which is not far from the center of Boulder where we do tastings. We do tours, we do private events, et cetera. But we just opened our, in Colorado, every state is different. We're allowed to have a secondary tasting room. So now we've opened a secondary tasting room on Pearl Street, which is the main third fair of Boulder. Really, really busy, very small 500 square feet. But it's for people to come in and get free samples of our whiskey. They can buy a bottle, they can talk whiskey to us about our brand, about what we do and how we do it. We can only sell what we physically make in Colorado. So it really does focus the mind on just our whiskey, which is great. And we only opened that 10, 11 months, but already Boulder gets a lot of out of town people, so it's spreading that word, which is great. And 20, 25% of our customers are repeat business. So it is snowballing a bit, which is fantastic, and I love working in there.

Drew H (29:21):
Beautiful. Well, and you still do tours here?

Alastair B (29:24):
Yeah, we do tours, private tours. We do organized tours on Thursday, Friday, Saturdays, or whenever really people want as a group. And we love just talking about whiskey, talking about our brand, but the conversation always goes to what people enjoy, what other whiskeys they are. And you're a history buff on whiskey is people are interested in history, they're interested in why is bourbon? I thought we'd get people from Kentucky telling me that we can't make bourbon here, we're not allowed to. They like to know about the history and the story and also the people behind the brands and what we're doing

Drew H (30:04):
For people who are planning a trip out in this direction. And maybe they want to pair something along with, I mean, I don't know if you have the same experience. The first time I came to Denver, I drove across the country. So I came through Kansas, which is flat as can be, and I kept waiting for the mountains to show up. And I'm like an hour from Denver and I'm going, where are the mountains? Where are the mountains? They are here because you are right on the edge of them. So I'm sure there's plenty of stuff to do with Rocky Mountain National Park and the rest, but what kind of things would you kind of point out to people might be fun to check out?

Alastair B (30:42):
So Colorado's known for its skiing, it's Mountaineering Boulder specifically. We are right at the foothills. So there's some great hiking, not 14,000 foot hikes, but there's some great intermediate and low level hikes here. They're skiing within 45 minutes of here at El Dorado. We have got a real phenomenal brewing scene actually here. If you want to move away from the whiskey, there's some great beers. The food is good here, coming from Scotland, which can be quite bland.

Drew H (31:18):
You can't get any haggs here, I get.

Alastair B (31:20):
Yeah, absolutely. Kind of hagg and you can't get fat chips. There's always scary

Drew H (31:24):
Chips.

Alastair B (31:26):
But yeah, it's an outdoor paradise. But also there's a lot of other things to do. We've got the Stanley Hotel, the inspiration of the Shining within 45 minutes of here, which is incredible. They've got a phenomenal whiskey vault down there for whiskey lovers. So there's a lot to do. And actually two years, a year and a half time, we're now going to be the base for the Sundance Festival, which has come away from Park City in Utah. And so this place will be film City for a couple of weeks every year. So there's a lot going on in Boulder and in Colorado is a wider area.

Drew H (32:07):
Well, I've been here twice. In both times. We've just gotten into big conversations that people don't get to hear because I don't hit the record button until later. But always appreciate the hospitality here, and I love your whiskeys. I Tacoma bottle repeated the last time, and it was the one that whenever my friends would come over and say, ah, American Scotch is the way to go, I let them taste it and they go, oh,

Alastair B (32:34):
This is

Drew H (32:34):
Really good.

Alastair B (32:37):
That's what it's about, is getting people to taste new, sorry, American single Malt whiskey. And there's 150 of us in the US now, and we're pushing it out as best we can and getting people to taste the whiskey.

Drew H (32:50):
Beautiful. Well, Alistair, thank you so much again, and I look forward to being here on my next visit. Cheers. Absolute pleasure. Thanks

Alastair B (32:57):
Very much.

Drew H (32:59):
I have enjoyed this trip to Boulder, Colorado, and Boulder Spirits at the Vapor Distillery. And don't forget that if you're looking for great distillery adventures anywhere across the globe, you can always find them @ whiskeylore.org slash travel. Sign up for a free membership, then bookmark your favorite distilleries to add them to your wishlist, and when it's time to solidify those plans, use the site's convenient planning tools, map steward dates, booking links, and more to create the perfect distillery itinerary. Start your journey @ whiskeylore.org slash travel as I make my way to Colorado Springs to tell the tales of the myths of whiskey. If you're still on the fence about a visit to Boulder Spirits, well, let me give you my three reasons why I think you should have this distillery on your whiskey lower wishlist. First Boulder is a gorgeous town, especially in the fall when the Aspen trees are yellow.

(33:52):
It serves as the gateway to the Rockies and Boulder spirits captures that boldness in a wonderful array of whiskeys. If you haven't tried bourbon with 44% malt in the mash bill, then this is the place. Second, you got two choices to interact with Boulder Spirits in Boulder, Colorado. You could take a tour and enjoy a DR at the distillery or head to their new tasting room in town where you can get a complimentary sample of their spirits. And third, this is a great way to get a little touch of Scotland in the Rockies. Not only can you admire the beautiful copper Forsyth pot stills, but you can also sample ped in Unpeated single malts. And don't forget, you could also be one of the first to taste a decade old Colorado whiskey. I hope you enjoyed this visit to Boulder Spirits. And after my trip to Colorado Springs, I'll be heading south to a bustling tourist town known as Santa Fe, New Mexico, where I'm going to be taking my first steps into sipping a spirit that was once outlawed, that is now making a strong comeback. Make sure you've got your ticket to ride along by smashing that subscribe button on your favorite podcast app. I'm your travel guide Drew Hanish. And until next time, cheers and Slava for transcripts and travel information, including maps, distillery planning information and more. And to whiskey lore.org/flights. Whiskey Lord's a production of Travel Fuels Life, LLL c.