In 1998, Jess Graber (a volunteer firefighter) was trying to put out a fire in George Stranahan’s barn. The pair started talking whiskey and instantly formed a friendship; six years later, in 2004, they drew upon George’s experience with the alcohol industry (he was the owner of Flying Dog Brewery) and opened a distillery — the first legal distillery in the state of Colorado since prohibition. From there, they crafted and perfected Stranahan’s Colorado Whiskey, now owned by parent company Proximo (further owned by the Mexican alcoholic beverage giant Becle who also owns Jose Cuervo and is the largest producer of tequila in the world). After the hike, we had a bit of downtime to freshen up and hang out until the main event — the whiskey tasting. Tasting Tincup Fourteener I tried some of this, since it is fairly inexpensive and I knew I would be using some for a bourbon-flavored recipe I was cooking that night, and it is pretty good for what it is. It is one of the sweetest bourbons I have ever had, that is for sure. Right after opening it, I had a pour and thought it was almost like a dessert drink.

Normally with the addition of a bit of ice, you lose some of the complexity and the more subtle flavors. But there really aren’t any subtle flavors here to shed. Everything is bold and beautiful, so really all you’re doing is chilling the drink a touch and proofing it down for those who thought there was a bit too much power in that glass. In this case, however, things are much better. Those bold rich notes are the perfect balance for the old fashioned mixings, and the latent cherry flavor in the spirit itself serves to amplify the cherries added as a garnish. It’s damn good, actually. Fizz (Mule)NOSE: Rich cocoa and honey, waffle batter, toffee and a touch of praline, caramel. It’s surprisingly nutty, a good deal of peanut brittle, light almond and a touch of walnut. I’d put this somewhere halfway between the power of a dark & stormy (using spiced rum) and the sweeter and more subtle mule you get when using Stranahan’s Colorado Whiskey as your base. It’s a good middle ground. Tincup American Whiskey comes from the mind of Jess Graber, a Colorado-based distiller who has plenty of other brands under his belt. He is, in fact, the man behind Stranahan’s Colorado Whiskey, which has many, many fans and is considered a craft whiskey. Initially it has a sweet graininess to it that gives way to cherries, rye, citrus and a bit of dill. That same nondescript spice from the nose moves effortlessly across the palate but instead of a sweetness, it’s accompanied by a soft minerality that rolls through at the end.

That being said, it is kind of a one-note Johnny, in that regard. There is nothing bold or complex about it, and it doesn’t really make any changes after sitting in the glass for a while or after the bottle has been opened for a period of time. It’s not the kind of bourbon where you take a sip and close your eyes while you savor all the different flavors from the glass. First off let me say that Jess is a nice, up front guy. He started the call by letting me know that it was a sourced whiskey (which I already knew) and that in no way does he consider this to be a craft whiskey like Stranahan’s. He then went on to explain that one of the reasons for not wanting to call it a bourbon is because he didn’t want to compete head-to-head with all of the other bourbons in the market. He wanted to create a slightly different flavor than what’s already out there so he worked with MGP on a proprietary blend of bourbons which resulted in the mashbill listed below. Tincup was founded by Jess Graber in 2014. Originally, Jess and George Stranahan had founded Stranahan’s Whiskey in 2004 out of Denver, Colorado. However, in 2010, Stranahan’s was bought out by Proximo Spirits. Well, under the Proximo umbrella, Jess set out to create a high-rye bourbon which turned into Tincup Whiskey. The start of Graber’s career in whiskey came from an unlikely source — a fellow Missourian who went by the name of Larry the Missouri River Rat. Larry, as we’ll call him for brevity’s sake, had a copper still, which he used to make whiskey as a hobby. Larry came to Graber one day with an interesting offer: The Missouri River Rat was leaving Colorado and returning to his home state, and he couldn’t bring his still with him, so he offered to Graber, who was 21 years old at the time and didn’t know much of anything about whiskey. The bottle makes no bones about the fact that the majority of this whiskey comes from MGP in Illinois, but there’s a twist here.I didn’t want to conclude this article without saying mentioning a little something about the other options in the Tincup lineup. Tincup Original Like TX Whiskey, Tincup is a blended whiskey. It’s compromised of two whiskeys, high rye bourbon from Indiana and a small amount of Stranahan’s single malt whiskey. Now, I understand Colorado isn’t exactly known for it’s distilling, but a very large portion of it is sourced from the Midwest. Actually, where Tincup American Whiskey literally comes from is Indiana. It’s made at MGP and then shipped to Colorado so that some finishing touches can be made and the drink can be bottled. The bottle is a sight to behold; it’s a thing of beauty. All glass (no label), the name Tincup is raised along the side, and the cap is an actual, honest-to-goodness, tin cup that can be used to drink your whiskey from and makes it an ideal bottle to share. How Is Tincup American Whiskey Made? This cookie is set by Rubicon Project to control synchronization of user identification and exchange of user data between various ad services.

While Stranahan’s was very successful, consumers had trouble accepting that American single malt whiskey — which still to this day is a lesser-known category — was really American whiskey. In my book, it’s a 10/10 design. Functional yet visually appealing, unique yet classic, all at the same time. Throw some simple syrup, bitter, and an orange twist in a glass of with Tincup. I prefer it as a mule or neat, but a Tincup Old Fashioned is still a solid choice. Tincup Whiskey PriceRecords the default button state of the corresponding category & the status of CCPA. It works only in coordination with the primary cookie.

It isn’t all about taste. Much of what goes into our purchasing decisions revolves around price. Below, we are going to cover the average price of a bottle and handle of Tincup. As a note, prices may vary depending upon individual store and location.After that proprietary mixing of bourbons happens at MGP they ship the whiskey to the Stranahan’s facility in Colorado where Jess and his crew do two things to it before bottling. They cut the whiskey with Colorado water and they add a little bit of Stranahan’s to the mix which, as Jess says, “is like adding salt and pepper to your meal, it’s just a little bit”. He won’t disclose how much, but at that point it couldn’t be called a bourbon any more anyways since it has another liquor added to it. Like the Jim Beam Spanish Brandy it would have to adopt a much clunkier name like “Bourbon Whiskey finished with Colorado Malt Whiskey” (or something like that). At which point using the catchall American Whiskey is a whole lot easier while simultaneously removing it from mental competition with bourbon. Sourced whiskies can certainly vary in their quality which is something that makes them both problematic and interesting. If you can find a good one, value for money isn’t a problem. Otherwise, it can be a big bite out of your bourbon budget. Understanding how something is going to taste is key to making this all-important purchasing decision. Smell