Branch & Barrel Distilling Returns to Firefly with Their Pure, Smooth Tasting Bourbon

Colorado craft brewing is synonymous with small-batch, hand-crafted quality. Branch & Barrel Distilling proudly carries over that tradition to their bourbon whiskey.

What’s the history of Branch & Barrel in the bourbon distilling business!

Owners, Ryan and Tom, were working in Boulder, CO when they decided it could be great fun to make an authentic bourbon whiskey in their spare time. Together with their friend Scott, who became their third owner, they fashioned an old water heater into a still, and began to fiddle with different recipes. After many fruitless attempts, they found out a formula that worked. 

Once successfully distilling a delicious white spirit, they turned to using cuttings from the tree branches in Tom’s backyard to flavor their liquor, stored in mason jars in Tom’s basement. The first barrels were made from the trees’ branches; hence the name ‘Branch & Barrel’. Friends and family loved it so much that they pushed to scale-up production and turn Branch & Barrel into a business.

Once you were ready to scale-up, what was your process to move forward?

From the beginning it was very important to that everything we did was authentic, from the heart, but also with our own personal twist. Using our construction industry connections, the B&B crew went on to acquire second-hand equipment from around the country to create our own equipment. The still was once a Campbell's soup maker, the fermentation tanks used to hold condiments, the high and low wines containers were formerly used in a soft-drink facility, and the tin cap sealer is a repurposed drill press from the 1930s. Scott is also a farmer, so spent grains become a delicious nutritional feed for his livestock.

What makes your product authentic to you and local to Colorado besides being distilled in Centennial?

Created by using all Colorado grown native ingredients, Branch & Barrel is made using a heavy corn and barley bourbon recipe. We source our corn in Northeastern CO and our water from Eldorado Springs, CO. This mix offers a sweet body with malty notes. The finished high wines are aged in Char #3 new white oak barrels filling Branch & Barrel whiskey with caramel and vanilla notes. The final product is a delicious whiskey with authentic Colorado character.

You recently received some exciting news! Would you share it with us?

Earlier this month B&B bourbon placed DOUBLE GOLD at the San Francisco World Spirits Competition, the largest spirits competition in the world!The SFWSC is the most prestigious and influential competition with 5,000 spirits entered and 70 judges from all over the globe. Additionally, our Flagship Bourbon won GOLD at the Denver International Spirits Competition! We're absolutely in awe that we've earned these titles!

Visit, taste, and shop with Branch & Barrel DIstilling at our Spring Market, April 30 & May 1, at Twenty Ninth Street in Boulder!

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