A Better Batch of Booze

It’s two o’clock in the afternoon, two hours before the official opening time of the tasting room at Montanya Distillers in Silverton. The place is already filling up.

Delena Aseere, assistant distiller and barkeep, is serving a trio of bedraggled, weather-beaten snowboarders lined up at the bar. Anywhere else, they might be clutching apres-ski PBR tallboys. But here, they each pull on a colorful, custom crafted, decidedly more foo-foo cocktail featuring the house specialty – Montanya’s own brand of rum.

Founders Brice and Karen Hoskin, who also own Mountain Boy Sledworks, opened the doors of the former brothel off of Blair Street in November. At 9,300 feet, Montanya Distillers is the highest altitude distillery in the country, and one of only 15 exclusive rum distilleries in the nation.

The Hoskins are part of a growing trend of Colorado entrepreneurs capitalizing on a formerly neglected economic niche: micro-distilleries. In fact, according to the American Distilling Institute, Colorado has one of the fastest growing rates in the U.S., currently boasting 13 micro-distilleries.

Read the full article at Anna Riling’s blog HERE.