Old Elk Drops a Trio of 10-Year-Old Whiskeys — and the Timing Couldn’t Be More Loaded
Fort Collins, Colorado has always been an unlikely headquarters for serious American whiskey. The city spent the better part of a century under self-imposed prohibition — between 1896 and 1969, it prohibited the sale and distribution of alcohol, a legacy Old Elk has long honored with spirits named “Dry Town.” It is fitting, then, that the brand born from that dry-county heritage is now releasing some of the most age-forward American whiskey to come out of the Mountain West — three expressions that have been waiting a full decade to meet the glass.
Middle West Spirits has announced the launch of the Old Elk Distillery 10-Year-Old Collection, which consists of a Straight Bourbon, Straight Wheat Whiskey, and Wheated Bourbon. All three retail for $70 a 750-ml bottle — a price point that, in the current age-stated whiskey market, represents genuine value for liquid that has spent a decade in wood. All three are rolling out now across the U.S.
The Acquisition That Set This Release in Motion
To understand why this particular drop carries real weight in the industry, you have to trace the chain of ownership. Old Elk Distillery was founded in 2013 in Fort Collins, Colorado, by Curt Richardson, the entrepreneur behind OtterBox. Richardson wasn’t a career spirits man — the business, created by Curt and Nancy Richardson, founders of OtterBox and Blue Ocean Enterprises, had already received accolades from the New York International Spirits Competition, where it was named “Colorado Distillery of the Year.” But the secret weapon was always the man behind the still.
Greg Metze was master distiller at MGP Ingredients in Lawrenceburg, Indiana for over 35 years — one of the most important people in American whiskey for the past three decades, though his name was largely unknown to consumers because MGP’s business was producing whiskey for other brands rather than releasing it under its own label. When Metze joined Old Elk, he brought with him not just a resume but a philosophy: grain-forward mash bills, extreme patience, and a proprietary technique that would come to define the brand…