Hardmade the Colorado Way
Our grain here at Olander Farms…it’s…well…it’s a little pampered.
Photo courtesy of Distillery 291.
Just think about the luck these little seeds landed when Todd selected them for planting. They get to spend their days in the bright Colorado sunshine, stretching up toward crystal blue skies, while enjoying unobstructed Front Range views from their neatly formed field rows. And while some Colorado seeds may land in stressful situations, (Colorado soil isn’t the richest and conditions are almost always dry and hot, after all) the Olander Farm seeds enjoy regeneratively amended fields, carefully managed nutrients, and snowmelt irrigation.
Even after harvest, they’re treated like royalty. No long trips in semis. No undignified treatment at the local grain elevator being unceremoniously tossed about, weighed, and packed. No traveling hundreds of miles to be shoved on a barge or piled into a hot silo far from home. No, sir. Our grains aren’t just some run-of-the-mill commodity. They’re the heart of what we do. They’re the result of all our hard work and years-long collaboration with Mother Nature. They’re a little piece of Colorado terroir wrapped up in a tiny seed that will join forces with all its seed buddies to make boldly delicious beverages.
Photo courtesy of Distillery 291
This is why we love working with partners who appreciate the art, science, beauty, and the total Colorado-ness of our grain.
Distillery 291 ranks high among these locally-focused, artisanal producers. Nestled in the stunning foothills of Colorado Springs, Distillery 291 is a globally-acclaimed, yet locally-focused small-batch distillery.
Founded by Michael Myers a former New York City fashion and beauty photographer, Distillery 291 aims to capture the essence of the Old West: their whiskey is Rugged, Refined, Rebellious® just like the frontier days of lore, but it’s also high-quality. Every batch is made from scratch and moves from grain to barrel to bottle by hand, and has since day one.
Distillery 291’s original still (right) connected to their new still. Photo courtesy of Distillery 291.
And their work is positively…a work of art. One that, in fact, started from literal works of art: Distillery 291’s first still was handcrafted by Michael himself from his own copper photogravure plates. (For those of you not up on photography terms, photogravure plates are copper plates upon which photographs are etched. Prior to film, photogravure plates were the primary photographic technology.)
It isn’t surprising then, that a distillery so committed to quality and beauty as to create liquid art from actual, physical artworks, has won copious awards. An unbelievable amount of awards, really. This is just the “short” list:
American Craft Producer of the Year - 2022
World's Best Wheat- 2021
World’s Best Rye-2018
Best American New Make-2020, 2021, 2022, 2023,
Best American Wheat- 2021 & Best American Rye-2018 by World Whiskies Awards
6 Masters & Luxury Masters from the Spirits Business Journal
Multiple Double-Gold in San Francisco World Spirits Competition
16x Liquid Gold in the Whisky Bible and 2-time US Micro-Whiskey of the Year (Runner-up 2020, 2018)
And so, when we think of places for our pampered Olander grains to finish out their life cycle in glorious fashion, we couldn’t select a better one than in Distillery 291’s bottles. From that original photogravure still, Distillery 291 has grown to a 26,000-square-foot production facility making some of the most highly respected whiskeys in the world.
Photo courtesy of Distillery 291.
The most recent release among these whiskies? The All Rye Colorado Whiskey crafted with (you guessed it) 100% Rye Malt from Root Shoot Malting and finished with toasted aspen wood staves. This whiskey’s Batch #1 offers a unique flavor profile with notes of cinnamon, raisin, french toast, Irish breakfast tea, sawdust, plum pudding, black pepper, and salted caramel.
Made with Colorado-grown, Colorado-malted, pampered grains raised in the shadows of Longs Peak.
Interested in snagging a bottle? You can order online at 291’s website. Better yet, join one of their tour and tasting events or simply head to their tasting lounge where you can try sips of special releases rarely found in the wild as well as all of their standard, award-winning bottles.
Big, bold, beautiful bourbon. Unapologetic rye whiskey.
Local Colorado malt.
With partners like Distillery 291, even when we have rough days at the farm, we know that every little thing is gonna be…
All Rye.
