"It does surprisingly well," says von Feldt, 56, of the tasting room. Some of Mile High Spirits' own liquor is consumed on-premises in its tasting room, and those sales help to offset the distillery's expenses. Mine is a very standard, London dry gin - and it's good. Most distillers are now going to market with these aromatic gins: They're lavender and all these other flavors. And it's exactly the way I wanted it to be: It's a true London dry gin. "The gin that we styled it on is Bombay, which is my favorite gin. "To come up with our gin formula, it took six weeks of distilling every day," says von Feldt. The Denver Dry Gin (about $21 for a 750-milliliter bottle) matches its creator's intention. The rye continues throughout the rest of the experience." At the end of the sip, that's when you kind of start tasting those earthy undertones of the malt, though they're very subtle because of the low malt content. In the very beginning of the sip, that's that sweet flavor that opens up to the caramels, the vanillas, as well as the spicy rye. There's almost apple and smoky-caramel, vanilla notes in the nose, the bouquet. That has to do with the high corn content in our mash. Joyce, who worked as a brewer at Great Divide Brewing Company before transitioning into distilling, shares his impressions of the bourbon (which retails for about $26 for a 750-milliliter bottle): "Our whiskey is very corn-forward - that's that sweetness that originally takes over your tongue. He adds, "The grain bills have a lot to do with flavor, but I think the yeast strain has even more to do with it." "That's why we use enzymes, because we don't use enough malt to get an enzyme of value," says von Feldt regarding the mashing process. The grain bill is 75 percent corn, 20 percent rye, and 5 percent malt. For the whiskey, which is aged for around two years in white oak barrels, Mile High Spirits utilizes a proprietary lager beer yeast strain, which it propagates itself. There's also Fireside Whiskey, crafted using a still built in Germany (and a completed distilling system that was assembled in Hungary, before being shipped to Colorado). There's Peg Leg Rum, a white rum with an underlying sweetness from blackstrap molasses, and vanilla and caramel notes in the bouquet. However, von Feldt and Joyce happily discuss Mile High Spirits' own products on the market. Non-disclosure agreements prevent von Feldt from identifying those brands, he says, but some of those outside contracts include bottled cocktails and liqueurs. Now, he and his partners, Wyn Ferrell and Chase Campbell, prepare spirits for 39 customers. When the company started, it had 10 contracts. We can dial in any flavor profile that you want." He records the agreed-upon measurements on a spreadsheet, which can be scaled-up to whatever volume of liquid the party is interested in purchasing. It helps to bring an example, then say, 'I'd like to change it this way.'. When people come to him with a spirits project in mind, von Feldt brings them to his desk: "We sit down and we try to figure what flavor profile you want. There are upwards of 200 natural flavorings and extracts on the shelves, and a nearby scale to weigh assorted ingredients. That wide workspace in his Denver distillery is bordered by shelves stocked with examples of the private-label bottlings that von Feldt's business concocts for others nationwide, as well as his company's own brands. Joe von Feldt declares, "My desk is actually a bar and a desk."
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