Stranahan’s Colorado Whiskey
By Desert Dog on Nov 25, 2009 with Comments 3
Going Whisky Hunting; Stranahan’s Colorado Whiskey Review; Whisky Word of the Day
For the Podcast of my interview with Jake Norris, Stranahan’s head distiller, CLICK HERE.
Stranahan’s Colorado Whisky
Surprisingly good for a two year old. Very complex and spicy with a cinnamon and herbal influence. Not Scotch and not Bourbon, just a good solid single malt whiskey. By the way, I have since learned that this is in fact a single malt whiskey brewed entirely from barley. Listen to my podcast with Jake Norris to learn why!
Overall Score: 17/25
- Nose: 4/5
- Palate: 4/5
- Finish: 3/5
- Experience: 6/10
© 2009 – 2010, The Desert Dog Journal. All rights reserved.
Related posts:
Filed Under: Featured • Whisky • Whisky Review
Couple of added thoughts: Stranahan’s is NOT a two year old; rather, there are no barrels in a batch that are younger than two years. Rest assured, there is whiskey in each batch up to five years old–for Stranahan’s, five year old whiskey is ancient.
Whiskey really can get too old; Living near the distillery, I’ve had Stranahan’s at ages from 6 months all the way to over five years. The older it gets, the more complex it is–but after a point, it’s so astringent and oaky that the complexity is overshadowed.
Stranahan’s is aged in a carefully temperature and humidity controlled environment, which drastically influences the maturation process. Jim Murray points out in his Whiskey Bible that he knows of no whiskey other than India whiskies that mature faster than Stranahan’s.
I love this stuff.
Charlie
Charlie, you are exactly right. The stated age of a whisky is the age of the youngest whisky used in the blend. Older barrels are often used in order to create the dram and to obtain a consistent experience. Jake Norris talked about this in our interview (podcast available on this site).
I envy you living close to Stranahans! Maybe we can work something out so I can get ahold of one of the Snowflake blends Jake talked about.
As you said, this is a good whisky!
[...] This post was Twitted by mshozda [...]