Spirits · Colorado Springs, Colorado
Distillery 291
Colorado whiskey finished with aspen, made by a former fashion photographer.
- Founded by
- Michael Myers
- Based in
- Colorado Springs, Colorado
Their story
Michael Myers spent years as a fashion photographer in New York before turning to whiskey. In 2010, while traveling between New York and Colorado Springs, he read a story about a craft spirits entrepreneur and decided to try distilling, with encouragement from Mike Bristol of Bristol Brewing Co.
A commercial still was out of his budget, so Myers built his first one himself out of copper photogravure plates left over from his photography work. The outlines of rocks from a California highway shoot are still visible on its sides. The distillery grew from there, adding staff in 2015 and a second still in 2016, and celebrated ten years of distilling in 2021.
How it's made
291's whiskeys, including a rye malt flagship, wheat whiskeys, and bourbons, spend time in charred oak barrels. Before bottling they are finished with toasted Colorado aspen staves placed inside the barrels, an idea Myers relates to charcoal mellowing.
I'm not traditional, but I look at tradition a lot.
Why we carry them
The aspen finish gives these whiskeys a spicy, slightly smoky edge that sets them apart from most American craft whiskey. We like to pour the rye for people who think they have tried it all.
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