Breckenridge Distillery

 No trip to Breckenridge would be complete without stopping by the Breckenridge Distillery's tasting room on Main street and trying a free sample or two of their latest offerings.  Our family has been a loyal customer since the very first taste of that very first vodka and as the product line has grown so has our love for their liquors.  It was about time that we visited the Distillery in person and took a tour to hear how it all started and how it got to be one of the best distillerys in the world in such a short amount of time.

In 2007, Dr. Nolt (the founder) had a gem of an idea while standing thigh deep in his favorite fly fishing hole.  As a whiskey nerd (his words, not mine) he pondered what the pure snow melt would taste like distilled.  A class in distilling, a partnership with his instructor and 10 years of growing pains have led to countless medals awarded to the highest distillery in the world.

Our after hours private tour afforded us an up close and personal look at the inner workings and the makings of this liquid gold.  If you ever find yourself in Breckenridge, stop by.  They also do free tours every half hour during the work day but I do think that the private tour is worth the few dollars as you get to wander around unhindered by the crowds and you get to taste more of their premium offerings.  Which is really why you are there anyway, right?

We started in the store and just had a chance to look around as we waited for our whole group to show up.

 We even got a peek at the Top Chef run restaurant - though it was closed.

 First things first - a tasting of each of their clear liquors.  Because whiskey needs a few years to age the bills needed to be paid somehow in the meantime.  That somehow was with their vodka which is still one of my favorites (but don't discount their Gin - it is award winning).

After a few nips, we went behind the scenes and got a lesson in distilling (I won't bore you - take the tour).  And then off to the bottling room...Since this is the only line bottler they have and it is set to run the airline vodka bottles (if you fly Frontier this is what you will get) the rest of their hooch is bottled and labeled by hand.  And if you are local, and lucky, you can get a last minute call to come in and help them out for some free booze.

 Filled 3 at a time, then labeled by hand, then boxed to go.

 Our tour guide (awesome!) showing us the barrels and letting us taste some very expensive bourbon.

 The bourbon was in glasses, not from the tap.

We finished up the tour back at the same bar where we tasted the clear liquors this time tasting the dark offerings.  not including the two below as their price tags per shot are more than I spend on a bottle.

 All in all it was a great way to learn a little more about how hard liquor is made and to be able to taste a few in good company.