Stranahan’s Returns to Its Roots for Founder’s Release

The innovative Colorado distillery celebrates its 20th year and the official American Single Malt designation with its latest expression

June 17, 2025 11:39 am EDT
Stranahan's Founder's Release
An early pioneer in the American Single Malt whiskey movement, Founder's Release is the latest bottle from Stranahan's.
Stranahan's

What we’re drinking: Stranahan’s Founder’s Release

Where it’s from: The first licensed distillery in Colorado since Prohibition, Stranahan’s (est. 2004) is a pioneer in the American Single Malt whiskey field and maybe best known for its yearly Snowflake release, which sees fans line up for days to buy a bottle. The distillery recently won seven Gold and Double Gold medals at this year’s San Francisco World Spirits Awards. 

Why we’re drinking this: As a celebration of Stranahan’s two decades of making whiskey, Founder’s Release nods to the distillery’s past and also celebrates the present, its announcement coming right after American Single Malt whiskey became an official booze category in the United States.

“It’s the first time in 52 years that the government recognized a new formal category of American spirit,” says Justin Aden, the master blender for Stranahan’s. “The last time that happened, it was a straight bourbon, and that’s been pretty big, right?”

Inside the Stranahan's distillery
A look inside Stranahan’s Denver distillery
Stranahan’s

Crafted with Stranahan’s founder, Jess Graber, Founder’s Release is a 12-year-old whiskey, primarily aged in charred, new American white oak barrels. A portion of the whiskey was finished for another one to four years in a combination of ex-bourbon and ex-blonde ale casks, a nod to the distillery co-founder George Stranahan’s brewing roots. 

“We had the option to lean heavy into finished casks — that’s something Stranahan’s is very, very good at,” Aden says. “We age our whiskey primarily in that virgin American white oak barrel, and after some time, it might transfer it into another style of barrel, like a sherry or a Port wine cask. I didn’t want to do that for the Founder’s Release because that’s not really how we did it in the early days of Stranahan’s. I thought we should tip our cap to the earliest style.” 

People Line Up for Days to Drink This Whiskey
Stranahan’s annual Snowflake release is worthy of its Swiftie-like devotion

Given that my experience with Stranahan’s usually involves a fairly robust secondary cask maturation (with a particular love of a 2023 Stranahan’s Diamond Peak release aged in extra añejo tequila barrels), I was curious to taste a somewhat straightforward liquid. Let’s dive in.  

How it tastes: Made from 100% malted barley, Founder’s Release comes in at a hot 120 proof. I found a fair amount of butterscotch and cream soda on the nose. On the palate, I found chicory, cola and caramel apple, with a slight chocolate biscuit undertone. Delicious and complex, this is a wonderful tribute to the distillery’s expertise in both crafting Single Malts and finding the right barrel maturation, even if that’s not so pronounced this time around. 

Fun fact: Every year, Stranahan’s hosts a Cask Thief night, where participants can try rare barrels “pulled from the depths of the rackhouse.” This year’s tasting, held in May, included American Single Malt whiskeys finished in Hungarian Tokaji barrels, orange wine barrels and cask-strength sips of the distillery’s straight American Single Malt (aged only in virgin American oak casks) called Mountain Angel.

Where to buy: Stranahan’s Founder’s Release is available for pre-order for $200. 

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