An Award-Winning Distillery Is Opening a New Tasting Room in LoHi August 4

“We were looking for a tasting room location in an awesome neighborhood,” says Craig Engelhorn, co-founder of Spirit Hound Distillers, which is based in Lyons. On August 4, it will open a second location at 3622 Tejon Street, in the former home of Mythology Distillery, which recently moved to Steamboat Springs.

“This place is perfect. Actually, it ticked off more boxes than we needed because they were doing production there,” explains Engelhorn, noting that Spirit Hound’s production will remain at its original Lyons distillery, which is also undergoing renovations – though that project is more involved than the work being done in LoHi.

Engelhorn says that the turnkey Denver location will be reminiscent of the Lyons distillery, with a Colorado-inspired interior that is “a little less polished” than the original, with barn wood and corrugated metal accents. Spirit Hound will also have more seating than Mythology did since it isn’t bringing in production equipment. There will be a dedicated room for private events, such as tastings, as well.

As head distiller, Engelhorn plans to personally host tasting events, despite the lengthy commute. However, he’ll be supported by a local staff that the company is currently hiring and training to adopt Spirit Hound’s core values.

“One of those core values is tenacity. We think of the hound dog as being tenacious. You put the hound dog on the trail and they don’t give up. We’re always searching for better spirits and a better-quality product and a better experience,” says Engelhorn. “We know we can’t sit and just be like, ‘We won Whisky of the Year. Let’s just rake in the cash now.’ It doesn’t work like that.”

Spirit Hound (which uses the “whisky” spelling) made headlines last year for winning Whisky of the Year honors at the international London Spirits Competition. Made solely with Colorado-grown ingredients, its Straight Malt Whisky ranked first out of 930 whiskey entries, scoring an astonishing 96 out of 100 points.

“That’s my goal: I gotta get those other four points figured out,” says Engelhorn, who’s grown accustomed to winning awards for Spirit Hound and, formerly, Oskar Blues, where he was the original brewer. “I think we’re in competition with ourselves more than anybody.”

He adds that another core value is community, which began even before the distillery launched in 2012. According to Engelhorn, banks “laughed” at Spirit Hounds’ proposal, as its whiskey barrels wouldn’t hit retail shelves for several years.

Rather than traditional financing, he and the other co-founders sold individual whiskey barrels to friends and family at roughly $5,000 each. They were guaranteed their investment back plus a 10 percent return, along with a few bottles of whiskey once the aging process was complete. After selling fifty barrels, the founders had $250,000 to start the business. “Our friends bootstrapped us and made it happen,” says Engelhorn.

Spirit Hound’s value of community also “goes back to the flood of 2013, and the community here in Lyons,” Engelhorn notes. “It’s the community of our staff, and it’s going to now extend into the community of people in the LoHi neighborhood and all of our customers. That community builds out to the rest of the country: We’ve got an e-commerce site [where] we sell to forty states, so that’s huge for us as well.”

While its whiskey is award-winning, Engelhorn notes that Spirit Hound is a spirits company. He explains, “We have a multitude of products. We have gin, rum, vodka, a coffee liqueur, a barrel-aged gin, malt whiskey, bourbon, rye whiskey. We have sambuca, too,” an Italian anise-flavored liqueur, “which is awesome.”

Although Engelhorn confirms that all of these Spirit Hound creations have been successful, the distillery is most known for its whiskey and gin. He says, “The gin was a product we made early on because gin comes out of the still and you put it in a glass and make a cocktail. You don’t have to put it in a barrel and wait.”

He explains that the hallmark of the gin recipe is local juniper berries, all hand-picked in the Lyons area: “It’s kind of spice-forward. It’s got a little bit of extra fennel/anise character. The juniper is a little bit subdued. But depending on how a mixologist works with it, you can tease out more of the juniper, the citrus, the fennel. It’s a really versatile gin to work with.”

Spirit Hound plans to serve its current cocktail menu at the new LoHi location. It features personal takes on classics like the Aviation, which combines gin, lemon juice, locally grown lavender simple syrup and Bordeaux cherry syrup, as well as elevated specials.

One signature cocktail is the Colonel, also made with gin along with turmeric root infusion, fresh lime juice, simple syrup and a lime twist. High in alcohol content, the Robert Burns is limited to one per customer and highlights the distillery’s cask strength whisky with housemade vermouth, cherry infusion, simple syrup, cacao bitters, walnut extract and an orange twist. Engelhorn notes that the cocktail menu often includes new items and will be adapted to Denver’s clientele based on feedback.

Food will also be tailored to the neighborhood. Engelhorn hopes that in addition to Spirit Hound’s current charcuterie plates and bar snacks, local restaurants will be interested in some level of partnership. Establishments like Señor Bear, Gaetano’s and Chicken Rebel are all within walking distance. Engelhorn admits the idea isn’t fully fleshed out, but he hopes the community-driven concept can help support other local businesses.

With a second location as well as the recent purchase of Clark’s Hardware, a building adjacent to the Lyons distillery, plus other major expansion plans, Spirit Hound is growing fast. Engelhorn concludes, “We have what I feel is an outstanding whisky, and we want to get it into more consumers’ hands.”