Looking for a Local Peated Whisky
Spence Neubauer was the kind of person who drank peated Scotch even back in college. And not ironically. He just loved it, as does his father before him. Spence was always on the lookout for a traditional, peated single malt whisky made locally in the mountains of Colorado. But he couldn’t find one, and so he started wondering what it would take to make one, himself.
A Trip to Scotland
A few years later, a trip to Scotland changed his and his wife’s lives in many ways. It got them interested in more than just enjoying Scotch, and made them realize they could start distilling whisky in Scottish tradition. Spence’s wife Stefanie was a doctor and a chemistry major so the two understood the processes and the science behind it. After talking with a few of the distilleries over there, Spence discovered that he could import barley from Scotland, already malted over peat fires. An idea became a passion for the couple, and when they returned home Eagle River Whisky was born.
All-In On Barley
Now, their small distillery in Minturn is nestled right on the banks of the Eagle River and is committed to small batch whisky, made only with barley. The mash bill is not a guarded secret… It’s 100% barley. All day, everyday. People often tell them that they should add a Bourbon to the lineup, but they won’t. Because at Eagle River Whiskey their passion is to do this one thing to perfection.
To produce great American Malt Whiskies. Single Malts, Blended Malts, and Peated Malts.
Here at Eagle River Whisky we have one focus, to make high-quality, small-batch, Scotch-style whisky with 100% barley. We are family run, and our passion for our whiskies and for our community runs deep.
OUR STORY
ABOUT OUR HOME TOWN,
MINTURN
We feel lucky to live in the landscape that we do. In traditional Scottish style, we have named our whiskies after the local towns and geography throughout the Eagle River Valley. None has shaped the story of our whisky more than Minturn.
Minturn is a special place with a history full of absurdly steep railroads, the booms and busts of the Colorado silver rush, and even whiskey bootleggers posing as innocent dairymen. Minturn already had a legendary past, even before Vail’s founders planned their ski runs. It’s truly a great place to make whisky. High in the mountains, surrounded by forest and river on all sides, where the air is thin, and the winters are long. And at 8,000 feet, it is truly in the “highlands” of Colorado.
Protecting the Eagle River
Whisky is, literally, the Water of Life. Uisge beatha in Gaelic. We want our whisky to become the Life of our Water.
We donate 1% of all proceeds to the Eagle River Coalition, which advocates for the health of Upper Colorado and the Eagle River watersheds through research, education, and projects.
The Eagle River Coalition serves “to protect and enhance the high-quality natural, scenic, and economic values that our rivers and tributaries provide to the citizens, visitors, and wildlife of the watersheds located in Eagle County”. And we are very proud to partner with them.
Family. Community. Tradition. A perfect dram of Whisky.
Stefanie Neubauer - Owner
Stef grew up in Colorado. Her parents, both skiers, met on a gondola in Zermatt, Switzerland and decided to raise their family in Colorado. Every weekend, her parents would explore the mountains in the buick station wagon as a family. So Stef grew up skiing, fishing and camping.
Rory Spence Neubauer
Spence moved to Colorado in 2007 to pursue his love of skiing, and became a patroller at Copper Mountain. There he met his future wife Stefanie and he taught her the beauty of the telemark turn and introduced her to Scotch.
Stef and Spence both gravitate toward doing things the slow and traditional ways. They can be found most evenings sitting and knitting together, listening to music. A sweater takes them each a few months. Spence cooks a Sunday sauce that takes all day. Stefanie paints in oils that sometimes take a month to dry. They love to fish but don’t mind if the action is slow. It is still a day out on the river under the sky,
Now they have 2 boys of their own and hope to impart their love of skiing, fishing, and all of the slowed-down wonders in this world.
A perfect turn in the powder. The way the alpenglow pauses above an evening on the river. A trout gently sipping flies from the surface.
A perfect dram of whisky.
Want more small-batch goodness?
Reserve a Tasting
Our Tasting Room is available for reservation, for a more private experience, or on days we are not open to the public. Make a reservation after a day on the river, or apres ski…it’s the perfect way to end-cap your outdoor adventures.