Bourbon Lens Thoughts:
If you didn’t know, Santa Fe Spirits launched Colkegan Unsmoked Single Malt Whiskey last year. They have now expanded the reach of Colkegan Unsmoked Single Malt Whiskey through their website and Big Thirst to allow more consumers an opportunity to try this amazing whiskey! If you want to know more about Santa Fe Spirits and the Colkegan, check out our podcast featuring Colin here.
Colkegan Unsmoked Single Malt Press Release
SANTA FE, New Mexico (May 4, 2023) — Santa Fe Spirits is releasing its Colkegan Unsmoked Single Malt Whiskey nationwide with online orders from its website. Santa Fe Spirits is well known for its Colkegan Mesquite Smoked Single Malt, and for the first time ever they have released an unsmoked Colkegan.
Like Scotch Whisky, Santa Fe Spirits’ Colkegan Single Malt Whiskey is made entirely from malted barley, carefully distilled, aged, and finished in various oak casks to enhance the complex flavors. The key difference is many Scotch whiskies are made with peat-smoked malt while Colkegan Single Malt Whiskey achieves its complex flavor profile using mesquite smoked malt. This approach has earned Colkegan Single Malt Whiskey numerous awards and a 91-point rating from Whiskey Advocate.
“We love experimenting with traditional single malt whiskey to develop new products while honoring the heritage of single malt,” says Santa Fe Spirits founder Colin Keegan. “Our mesquite-smoked Colkegan has won people’s hearts, and we wanted to release a whiskey that would complement our current line-up of American Single Malts, but also stand on its own. Four years ago we made our traditional Colkegan Single Malt Whiskey, but without smoking the malt. We tucked a few barrels of it into a back corner of the rickhouse, aged it in new American Oak, and used bourbon barrels. We’re excited to release it nationwide.”
Spurred by ever-increasing consumer interest and the efforts of the American Single Malt Commission, single malt whiskey made in the U.S. has gained considerable attention in recent years. As a founding member of the American Single Malt Commission, Santa Fe Spirits has helped champion the creation and promotion of American Single Malt Whiskey as an officially recognized category of whiskey. On July 29 the Alcohol and Tobacco Tax and Trade Bureau (TTB) issued the Notice of Proposed Rulemaking in the Federal Register which will formally define American Single Malt whisky. In the coming months, the TTB is expected to release an official definition of American single malt. This is great news for the entire industry and for consumers who are eager to purchase whiskey like Colkegan Unsmoked.
About Colkegan Unsmoked
Distiller Stephen Julander created a whiskey with 100% malted barley that focuses on the flavors of the pure malt with Unsmoked Colkegan. After distillation, Unsmoked Colkegan was aged for about four years in new American Oak and used bourbon barrels. The resulting whiskey has a beautiful copper color that evokes the coming of fall in the aspens, a deep amber luster as they welcome in the cooler nights of our Sangre de Cristo Mountains. Unsmoked Colkegan has warm aromas of brown sugar, bubblegum, macadamia nuts, and cinnamon, with a palate of toasted walnuts, wafer cookies, toast, dried pit fruit, and light spice. It has a lovely finish with lasting notes of toasted oak and butterscotch pudding.
Pricing and Availability
Colkegan Unsmoked is a limited run of approximately 1,500 bottles and is available exclusively at the Santa Fe Spirits Distillery and the Santa Fe Spirits Downtown Tasting Room for $69.99. It is now available for purchase online from the Santa Fe Spirits website and ships directly to consumers’ doors in 42 states in the U.S.
About Santa Fe Spirits
Santa Fe Spirits was founded by Colin Keegan in 2010 with the goal of becoming the Southwest’s pre-eminent artisan distillery. With products ranging from silver whisky to barrel-aged apple brandy, Santa Fe Spirits is a relatively small distillery proud to be producing exceptional spirits designed to capture and accentuate the essence of the Southwest. Please stop by the distillery for a visit and we will be happy to show you what making world-class spirits is all about. Santa Fe Spirits makes it easy to purchase its craft spirits online: https://santafespirits.com/spirits/buy-online. Follow Santa Fe Spirits on Instagram and Facebook.
