There’s a reason more bourbon drinkers are looking past Kentucky these days, and a distillery out of Centennial, Colorado just gave everyone another reason to pay attention. Branch & Barrel Distilling walked away with four medals from the Bartenders Spirits Awards and two more from the SIP Awards, adding to a pile of wins that’s starting to look less like luck and more like a pattern.
For anyone who’s spent years assuming bourbon only comes from one part of the country, this is the kind of news that should make you rethink that. Colorado’s high elevation, its wild swings in climate, and mountain water most people never think twice about are turning out to be exactly what makes a bourbon taste different. Not gimmicky-different. Actually better.
What Branch & Barrel Just Won
Let’s start with the hardware, because it’s substantial for a distillery that’s still relatively young compared to the big legacy names.
At the Bartenders Spirits Awards, the ones judged by industry professionals who taste spirits for a living, Branch & Barrel picked up gold medals for two products: their Cherry Port and their High Rye Bourbon. They also earned silver medals for their Wheated Bourbon and their 3-year Colorado Straight Bourbon. That’s four medals in one competition, which is no small feat when you consider how many distilleries are out there submitting their best work hoping for recognition…