Stranahan’s whiskey returns to mountain-town roots with new taproom

Stranahan’s Colorado Whiskey is taking it back to the beginning.

The whiskey maker, which was founded in 2004 and has often been billed as the first new distillery to open in Colorado since Prohibition, plans to debut a new tasting room, Stranahan’s Whiskey Lodge, sometime this winter in Aspen, according to the company.

This “marks our first outpost beyond our Denver distillery and tasting room, and it is being designed to be the ideal environment for fans, already made and new, to experience our award-winning American single malt whiskies – and to say thank you to those who helped start it all,” the company, which is now owned by beverage giant Proximo Spirits, added.

Stranahan’s was co-founded by longtime Aspen resident, millionaire, physicist and entrepreneur George Stranahan and former volunteer Aspen firefighter Jess Graber. The story goes that Graber was part of a team that responded to a fire at Stranahan’s barn, and that the two got to know each other af...