Review #11: Breckenridge Bourbon

The Breckenridge Distillery is the “World’s Highest Distillery”. Founded in 2008, the Breckenridge Distillery is most widely known for its blended bourbon whiskey, a high-rye mash American-style whiskey. 

The distillery is located in a town of the same name, about an hour and a half east of Denver. Founded in 2008 by Bryan Nolt, it has become a distillery not only known for their whiskeys but a wide variety of other spirits. In December 2021, Breckenridge was acquired by Tilray for a healthy sum of $109.2 Million and continues with their mission of creating well priced spirits.

A quote from Irwin Simon, CEO of Tilray: “More generally, the Breckenridge Distillery transaction is consistent with Tilray’s strategy of leveraging our growing portfolio of U.S. CPG brands to launch THC-based product adjacencies upon federal legalization in the U.S. These significant, diversified revenue streams are key to delivering on our ultimate goal of industry leadership with $4 billion in revenue by the end of fiscal year 2024.”

This is another bottle I've had in my collection for years now but haven't really gone back to try. Not because I didn't like it, was a mix of not drinking as much whiskey and just had some others I leaned more towards when I did want to have a small dram.

During the Whiskey Wednesday days, one of the regulars brought a bottle of Stranahan Whiskey, it was a delight. It was one of the first whiskeys I've had from Colorado. He mentioned Breckenridge is another distillery that makes some wonderful whiskeys as well. That and the fact that the Bourbon comes in at under $40, was enough of a sell for me to add a bottle prior to trying it.

Bourbon was the first whiskey that I've really started to like, it all started with a Widow Jane. So naturally I was excited to give this a try, and it didn't disappoint. There's some good value in this price for a Bourbon, at least from my currently limited experience in Bourbons.

Notes: On the nose you can definitely tell this is a rye forward blend. It has a subtle spice on the nose, mixed in with pine, a bit of caramel and vanilla. As it sat for a bit I also got some peppermint.

Palate: The spicy rye continues to be the front runner when it comes to taste, but you get a lot more of the pine, oaky and vanilla notes come through as well. This is a very tasty and well balanced bourbon.

This is a tasty bourbon, it might not be as memorable to me as a Widow Jane. But I think for the price it really shows what a no thrills no gimmick bourbon can do. It's an easy sipper when neat. It might not be something that I would always have a bottle of in my collection but I have no regrets buying a bottle to enjoy.

As I continue my journey I'd love to dive more into Bourbons, it's a category of whiskey that I seem to enjoy a lot. And as of right now this is one I would recommend as one to try, especially if you haven't had bourbons before.