Four Colorado distilleries win prestigious awards

Thirst Staff Report

Colorado Springs-based Distillery 291 won three awards at the Icons of Whisky and World Whiskies Awards, including “Craft Producer of the Year.”

Distillery 291 also took home Best American New Make for its Fresh Colorado Whiskey, and Senior Vice President Philip Rawleigh was named “American Whiskey Brand Ambassador of the Year.”

At the same event, Breckenridge Distillery won the best American blended prize, and Tincup Mountain Whiskey won best bottle design.

The team at 291 has won the “new make” prize three years in a row.

“It’s such a pleasure to be able to watch the development of the American whiskey industry and the way that distillers are challenging perceptions, while pushing standards higher and higher,” said Phoebe Calver, editor of “American Whiskey Magazine.”

Distillery 291 is the passion project of a former New York City fashion photographer, and was first created in a small basement from a one-of-a-kind still constructed from old copper photographic plates. Its whiskeys are finished with toasted staves of Colorado aspen trees.

The company also won the World’s Best Wheat Whiskey in 2021 and World’s Best Rye Whiskey in 2018.

The distillery has also earned 18 Liquid Gold designations from the Whisky Bible, and other prizes from The San Francisco International Spirits Competition, The American Whiskey Masters, The SIP Awards, and numerous other competitions and publications.

“This award is about more than whiskey – it’s a tribute to my amazing team and all their hard work, the miles on the road, stories shared and memories made over the last 10 years and most importantly it’s a toast to the people who drink our big, bold Colorado whiskey,” said Michael Myers, owner and founding distiller at 291. "Colorado distillers have been working hard to draw attention to the Colorado Whiskey movement and it feels like the whiskey world is starting to notice.”