Distillery 291 Tour
On February 24, 2023 the Bourbon Lair staff descended on Distillery 291 for their tour. Little did our tour guide Grant know, we came armed with sensitive taste buds and noses to collectively dissect the layers of flavor and aroma from our samples. Grant, our ever so professional tour guide was happy to answer all our complex questions. Grant, knows all about Distillery 291 as he was there from the beginning. Our tour began discussing the mash build and how that process was done at Distillery 291.
Starting of the process. Mash is brewed here.
Distillery 291 sources all their grains locally from Colorado farmers. Their base mash bill is the same for many of their bourbon whiskey’s: Corn 80%, Rye 19% and Malted Barley 1%. What sets their Whiskey apart from many competitors is they malt their barley prior to using it in the mash. Malting the barley first enhances the nutty, smoky and chocolate flavors which pair nicely with this mash build. The whiskey/bourbon that we tried with this mash build include: Fresh (clear unaged), American Whiskey, Small Batch Bourbon, Barrel Proof, and the Straight Bourbon. Other Whiskeys they make like the Barrel Proof Single Barrel, Colorado Small Batch Rye, the HR High Rye, and the White Dog (clear unaged). Those are heavier on the Rye and Malted Barley.
Fermentation tanks and some barrels aging in the background.
Once the precious liquid is fermented for up to 7 days it is then distilled 3 times starting with a large distiller, to a medium then a small custom built final stage distiller. The triple distilling lends its self to a clear “moonshine” that is super clear and not devoid of flavor. Both the “Fresh” and “White Dog” are uniquely different in flavor and are simply delicious. “Fresh” is 90 proof in the bottle with aromas of Marshmallow, ozone, dirt and sea spray. The taste is malt, clover, sweet pea essence. The finish is herbal, light corn, subtle sweet finish. The “White Dog” (61% Rye and 39% corn) had the aroma of cardamom, coriander, floral and honey. The aroma was more subtle than on the “Fresh”. The taste was spicy, gin like herbal flavor. The Finish was smooth with a subtle bitter orange. In the Bourbon Lair I made a “Fresh” Mule with some ginger beer and it was delicious.
Sampling the Distillery 291 Whiskey and Bourbon with our tour guide Grant
We were able to sample most of what they distilled. Had to take back to the Bourbon Lair a few of their award winning favorites and “Fresh”. I highly recommend visiting them if you are ever in Colorado Springs Colorado. Stay local and get a Uber/Lyft driver and stay safe. James was the local bartender and he made us a wonderful Sazerac, yummo. If you dont plan to take a tour come in and get a drink. Cant go wrong visiting Distillery 291. They have a nice lounge area to meet friends. A must visit.
Bourbon Lair Gals taking the tour.
When it was all said and done we walked out with: Fresh, M, Bad Guy, Colorado Bourbon, Barrel Proof Single Barrel Bourbon, Barrel Proof Single Barrel Colorado Whiskey and Barrel Proof Colorado Straight Whiskey.
