Denver-based Stranahan’s distillery marks its 20th anniversary this year, and to celebrate, the whiskey maker is tracing its roots back to Aspen with a new tasting room and restaurant opening in March in the mountain town.
The Aspen Whiskey Lodge, at 307 S. Mill St., serves alpine-inspired dishes alongside drams and cocktails featuring the distillery’s original spirits.
It opens March 9 and given its proximity to Aspen Mountain, head blender Justin Aden expects it will be a popular après ski destination.
“My favorite part was seeing all the dogs in the park while drinking whiskey. That was pretty cool,” he said.
As the story goes, Stranahan’s was born after volunteer firefighter Jess Graber responded to a barn fire at George Stranahan’s property in Woody Creek; Stranahan, who died in 2021, was a longtime Aspen resident, millionaire, physicist and entrepreneur. The two bonded over their love of whiskeys and in 2004 started the distillery, which has since become a leader in making American single-malt.
The Aspen Whiskey Lodge offers a unique opportunity to introduce travelers visiting from abroad to the American version of the spirit, Aden said.
Aspen “has a discerning and international clientele that have probably already been familiar with single-malt abroad. Whether that’s from Scotland, Ireland or (it’s) Japanese, there’s a lot of great single-malts out there,” he said. “Now we have an opportunity to introduce more people who might be passing through Aspen to what we’ve been up to for a long time.”
Several years ago, the federal Alcohol and Tobacco Tax and Trade Bureau proposed making a new category for “American single malt whisky” to codify it as a distinctive product of the United States. Aden said the formal definition has yet to be announced, but that there are characteristics that distinguish the spirit.
“It’s obviously made in America, that’s an important distinction. It should be made at one distillery and one distillery only, so there should not be packaging of whiskey made at another facility or company. And it’s going to be made out of 100% malt. Generally, that means 100% barley malt,” Aden said. “Stranahan’s has always made it that way.”
While Stranahan’s won’t be making whiskeys onsite at the 1,833-square-foot whiskey lodge, Aden promised it will serve exclusive tipples drinkers can’t get anywhere else. In fact, it’s kicking off with an original blend of six different single-malt whiskeys, some of which were aged in Calvados apple brandy casks.
“They’d spent two to four years (in barrels), which is more than enough of time,” Aden said, describing the flavors as decadent, rich, fruity, inviting and warming. “It hits the subliminal note I was trying to hit as people come off the mountain.”
The blend will be available for sale by the pour as well as by the bottle ($140) in the whiskey lodge’s retail store, which also features wares from local artisans.
The cocktail menu seeks to please whiskey lovers with classics like a smoked Old Fashioned, sazerac, and whiskey sour. The bar also has seasonal sips like the Chili Chai Ball (Stranahan’s Blue Peak whiskey, chai syrup, lemon juice, chili bitters, ginger beer) and No, Not the Buttons (Stranahan’s Original whiskey, heavy cream, ginger liqueur, holiday spice syrup, black walnut bitters).
Food items, developed by chef Nick Ragazzo, include a Colorado lamb flatbread with roasted tomatoes, feta and mint hot honey; whiskey-smoked wagyu brisket served with bacon, onion and mushrooms; and a seasonally rotating house-made pasta option. This winter, it’s a ricotta gnocchi with broccolini.
Many of the dishes feature an item made with Stranahan’s whiskey. For example, the pretzel “hot pocket” comes with a single-malt mustard.
Stranahan’s Aspen Whiskey Lodge will be open every day from noon to 10 p.m. starting March 9.