When Laws Whiskey House opened publicly last year, the company introduced a complex bottle called A.D. Laws Four Grain Bourbon using corn, wheat, rye and barley. Now it is introducing two more offerings in A.D. Laws Secale Straight Rye Whiskey Married Batch 1 and A.D. Laws Secale Straight Rye Whiskey Single Barrel Cask Strength, both of which are unique in using rye grown on a family farm in the San Luis Valley and malted in Colorado.
When Laws introduced the four-grain bourbon last year, it turned heads. Bucking trends of many startup distilleries, namesake Al Laws and head distiller Jake Norris, Stranahan's first distiller, worked under the name Project Gargoyle and waited nearly three years to introduce a whiskey distilled and aged in Colorado, rather than use imported spirits or distilling other spirits like vodka or rum while the whiskey aged. Now the company is introducing a rye whiskey that it's already aged for three years.
The rye in the whiskey is harvested fresh, cleaned and malted by the Colorado Malting Company, within a week of harvest, according to Laws. Quickly thereafter, it's delivered to the distillery where it's cooked and open-air fermented to lock in the fresh flavor.
The married batch is 100 proof (or 50 percent alcohol -- many whiskeys are barreled much lower proofs like 80 proof) and sells for $78 a bottle. The single-barrel rye is poured from "the cream" -- the first half of the first 10 casks and -- is bottled at cask strength: an average of 139 proof. It's selling for $110 a bottle.
Contact Confluence Denver Innovation & Jobs News Editor Chris Meehan with tips and leads for future stories at chris@confluence-denver.com.
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