Spirit Hound Distillers Launch Straight Malt Whiskey and Gin into Texas

Lyons, Colo. — Spirit Hound Distillers is distributing its small batch, Straight Malt Whisky and Spirit Hound Gin throughout the entire Lone Star State of Texas. The selectively distributed distillery made Texas an early priority with its award winning flagship spirits distributed by United, Wine & Spirits.

Resonating from the gritty small town of Lyons, CO in the Rocky Mountain foothills comes a craft spirit years in the making. Spirit Hound’s reputation originates in their hands-on approach to the craft. Taking traditional and classic recipes realized with local, hand selected ingredients and distilled through hand-built-from-scratch stills and distillation equipment in search of unique, one-of-a-kind processes and flavors.

“We’ve committed to doing things from scratch from the ground up,” Craig Engelhorn, head distiller and mad scientist, adds, “Not only did we source small batch ingredients, we hand built much of the equipment while searching for unique flavors.  We’re not bringing in other whisky to relabel or blend with ours. I hope the consumers can taste and appreciate the time and effort we’ve put into it.”

The spirits are made with local Colorado ingredients such as freshly-picked juniper berries showcased in the Spirit Hound Gin while their flagship, Straight Malt Whisky, is double distilled from an all-malt recipe made from Colorado-grown malted barley and a dash of peat-smoked malted barley, all grown and malted in small batches by Colorado Malting Company in Alamosa, Colorado.

The Straight Malt Whisky (Spirit Hound prefers the “e”-free spelling on its whisky, noting a a respectful nod to Scotch whisky and the 100 percent malted barley recipe.) was aged for over two years in new, fully charred American oak barrels before being bottled in an unblended, “single-barrel” fashion.

“It reflects our small-batch nature,” Engelhorn says of the unblended spirit, “and it showcases the subtle differences between each barrel and allows the uniqueness and the deep character be explored with each bottle.

The spirit was double distilled at Spirit Hound on two handmade, built-from-scratch stills (including a Scottish pot-style still) designed by Engelhorn and constructed by Engelhorn and his partners. The Whisky features aromas of oak and toffee, flavors of caramel, turbinado sugar and light smoke, and a silky body.

Since opening in 2012, Spirit Hound has been selling its acclaimed Spirit Hound Gin, Mountain Bum Rum,  Sambuca and an un-aged version of its whisky called White Dog Moonshine. Due to the significant challenges caused by the 2013 Colorado floods, Spirit Hound’s whisky production was interrupted and the distillery’s next release of aged whisky did not take place until 2016.

“The wait has been excruciating.  We see a lot of Texans in our tasting room, sharing our spirits with them on their turf has been a pipe dream since the early days.” says Wayne Anderson, a Spirit Hound co-founder and the company’s director of business development. “We’ve survived the flood and are ready to release ‘the Hound.’”

Spirit Hound Distillers Straight Malt Whiskey and Spirit Hound Gin are available at many Spec’s Wine, Spirits and Finer Foods and other fine spirit stores Texas wide through distribution with United, Wine & Spirits.  Bottles sell for the suggested retail price of $55 for Whisky and $30 for the Gin.  Biggio’s at the Marriott Marquis Houston is featuring Spirit Hound in two signature drinks.

About Spirit Hound Distillers

Spirit Hound embodies the enterprising character of the old west: we have a passion for fine spirits and a hardworking, can-do attitude. We strive to distill high quality beverages with a uniquely drinkable character.

Our spirits are made with local Colorado ingredients such as freshly-picked juniper berries.  We custom built much of our own distillation equipment, including our beautiful signature 150 gallon copper still,  to capture all of the purity and flavor and make sure it gets into every bottle we sell – and every glass you drink.

Due to the significant problems caused by the 2013 Colorado flood, Spirit Hound’s whisky production was interrupted and the distillery’s next local release of aged whisky did not take place until early 2016.

Spirit Hound was founded in 2012 by friends in the small town of Lyons, CO.  by Boulder County businessmen Craig Engelhorn, Wayne Anderson, Matt Rooney, Neil Sullivan.  Since opening in 2012, Spirit Hound has been selling its acclaimed Spirit Hound Gin, Mountain Bum Rum,  Sambuca and an un-aged version of its whisky called White Dog Moonshine.

The Spirit Hound tasting room is located on the St. Vrain River at 4196 Ute Highway/US Route 36 Lyons, CO 80540 and hosts live music, events and is a popular destination for lovers of distilled spirits and cocktails.

For additional details please visit http://www.spirithounds.com/ or call (303) 823-5696