Eagle County’s distilleries offer pours for every palate

There’s a humble sign that hangs over the door between the distillery and the tasting room at 10th Mountain Whiskey & Spirits in Gypsum.

On a plain black background in simple gray type, secured to the wall with a screw and a loop of twine, it inquires: “All of this just for a drink?”

The quote is attributed to Charlotte Thompson, mother of Ryan Thompson, founder and CEO of the distillery. Scanning the 7,000-square-foot facility, from the large Vendome copper still to the half-dozen shiny fermentation tanks to the long wall lined with racks of oak barrels, you might think she was on to something. After all, it takes a herculean effort to build a distillery, from securing funding to developing and marketing products to clearing dozens of legal hurdles.

But if you ask the distillers who have put down roots in Eagle County, all of the toil and sweat, the hours of tinkering with recipes and perfecting their craft, are worth it, and the result is a slew of small-batch products that can be savored at tasting rooms across the valley.

10th Mountain Whiskey & Spirits

Thompson established 10th Mountain Whiskey & Spirits in 2014 as a tribute to the 10th Mountain Division soldiers who trained at Camp Hale south of Vail during World War II. Those soldiers returned home to build the ski industry as we know it, founding dozens of resorts, including Vail.

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“Without the 10th, we all wouldn’t be here living a free life and skiing a great mountain,” Thompson said. “I come from a military family, and I wanted to give back and support and appreciate their efforts.”

The distillery’s production facility in Gypsum and its tasting room in Vail Village are tiled in patches, challenge coins and other gifts from the many active duty and veteran soldiers who have crossed their thresholds, as well as certificates and letters of recognition for 10th Mountain’s philanthropic support of military organizations across the country and here in the valley.

“Each year, we do a barrel of bourbon for the Vail Veterans Program,” Thompson said. “We have them sign it, age it for two years and then donate the bottles to be given away or to raise funds for the program.”

Bourbon was 10th Mountain’s flagship product, followed by releases of its rye and American single-malt whiskeys. Distillers Sean Hogan and Jeremy DeWitt have added a handful of other spirits to their repertoire over the years, as well, including a barrel-aged brandy made from pinot noir grapes, a sage-infused peach-vanilla cordial, a potato vodka and a 100% corn Colorado Clear moonshine, as well as numerous special editions and one-off experiments.

This summer, both of the distillery’s tasting rooms rolled out the Berry Mule, made with 10th Mountain vodka, ginger beer, house-made blackberry, raspberry and blueberry simple syrup and a splash of lime, as well as a variation of its Old Fashioned, featuring bourbon, rye or brandy sweetened with 10th Mountain’s cinnamon-maple infused, barrel-aged maple syrup, the distillery’s own orange and old fashioned bitters and a splash of soda water.

Folks can take pre-arranged tours of the distillery. The distillery also offers a Fantasy Whiskey Camp, where spirit aficionados can experience the distilling process from mashing in, fermenting and distillation to barreling, bottling and tasting.

Archetype Distillery

Archetype began its journey in Denver in 2017, but when the distillery began to outgrow its modest neighborhood digs, co-owners Wade Murphy and distiller Michael Chapyak knew they would have to look elsewhere to expand. The pair ultimately secured a production facility in Gypsum, complemented by a tasting room at the Sitzmark Lodge in Vail Village.

“I spent a lot of my childhood up here in Vail, and we’d always wanted to get up to the mountains, so we thought, ‘Now is the time, let’s do this,'” Chapyak said.

Chapyak has taken an Old World approach to crafting Archetype’s spirits. The distillery’s Archangel Vodka and Archrival Gin are made from wine grapes and cut with mountain spring water, imparting a smooth and subtly sweet flavor, he says. The product line also includes a cherrywood-smoked vodka, Archfiend, and Archrebel, an alderwood-smoked gin, as well as two dozen vacuum distilled infusions, ranging from citrus to floral to savory flavors.

“Everything is produced by us on site at the distillery, from fermentation to distillation to bottling,” Chapyak said. “You can use those vacuum distilled spirits as a base to any cocktail; you can combine them with the vodkas or the gins. We can riff on everything from whiskey-style drinks to margaritas.”

Archetype’s summer offerings include a salted watermelon martini made with Archangel Vodka, watermelon puree syrup and a splash of beef jerky spirit for a bit of salinity; the distillery’s take on a pain killer, with Archangel Vodka, orange spirit, palm sugar and cherry syrups and coconut and pineapple juices; and a line of syrups, from blood orange to strawberry to Palisade peach.

Spirit enthusiasts can sip one of Murphy or Chapyak’s creations in the tasting room, sample the goods on a distillery tour, or sign up for a cocktail class to take a deeper dive into ingredients, proportions and textures, learning the history and building blocks of classic cocktail styles.

“It not only teaches people about our spirits and how to use them but how to be prolific throughout their cocktail career,” Chapyak said. “It’s a fun way to learn everything from basics to direct distilling and alcohol production.”

Classes are offered on Mondays and Wednesdays or by appointment, with a maximum class size of 15. The distillery is open for tours Tuesday through Saturday; reservations are recommended.

Minturn Whisky Co.

Stef and Spence Neubauer started Minturn Whisky Co. in 2023 to fill a void they found in the Colorado craft spirits scene: No one was making a Scotch-style, peated, single-malt whisky. Two years later, they are putting the finishing touches on blueprints for a sustainably operated distillery wrapped in an old-school facade that suits the character of downtown Minturn.

“We’re going to build a distillery that’s inspired by Scottish distilleries and Scottish pubs,” Stef said. “Downstairs will be cozy, with a low ceiling, and the distillery portion will look more like a Scottish distillery out in the country, with cupola-style ventilators on the exterior.”

The goal for the design of the tasting room is to achieve the same charm and coziness of The Wee Dram, the 10-seat mini pub that’s been holding down the lot where the distillery will eventually be erected. The Dram’s soft lamp light, wood-paneled ceiling and tartan-covered corner benches are an homage to the distillery’s Scottish influence, while framed historical photos of Minturn, shelves of customers’ hand-etched glass tumblers and fly rods and other fishing elements reflect the Neubauer’s love of the town where they live, work and play.

The Dram offers exclusive events for Minturn Whisky Social Club members on alternating Thursdays, as well as community-themed nights where families can play bean bag games and darts and circle up around The Dram’s outdoor tables and fire pits.

Minturn Whisky also opened a second tasting room for the summer in the Park Plaza building in Beaver Creek Village, across from the Golden Eagle Inn. Both tasting rooms are open every day, featuring a summer cocktail menu, including an Arnold Palmer-style whisky lemonade, as well as pours of the distillery’s peated malt, Colorado single malt and blended malt whiskys.

“Two are made with Colorado malt, which has a bit of a chocolatey profile,” Stef said. “The third one is barley that’s imported from Scotland that’s been peated.”

The distillery’s water source flows from Holy Cross Mountain, the 14,000-foot peak featured on the brand’s labels. That water is what separates Minturn Whisky from other distilleries in the valley, Stef says, sealing a bit of the historic railroad town into every bottle.