Laws Whiskey House: Time in a Barrel

Laws Whiskey House co-founders know something about patience

Mike Taylor //September 9, 2019//

Laws Whiskey House: Time in a Barrel

Laws Whiskey House co-founders know something about patience

Mike Taylor //September 9, 2019//

ILLUSTRATION BY DREW THURSTON. 

Laws Whiskey House co-founders Al and Marianne Laws know something about patience. The Peyton Manning-led Denver Broncos were still two years away from winning Super Bowl 50, light rail from Union Station to DIA was still three years in the future, and the Laws’ daughter was in middle school when they filled the oak barrels to set the aging process in motion for their Four Grain Bourbon. By the time that whiskey was deemed ready, the Laws’ daughter was in college.

“I see some similar parallels when it comes to child-rearing and whiskey-making,” Marianne Laws says. “There needs to be a lot of dedication and patience. We don’t let time tell us when whiskey is ready, the whiskey will let us know.”

Veritable time machines, those barrels had been aging since 2013.

The product of those barrels — six-year Bottled in Bond Four Grain Bourbon — became available at Laws’ distillery on July 28, with Colorado retailers receiving bottles in August.

“We continue to challenge ourselves to raise the bar on Colorado whiskey as we improve and refine our craft,” says Al Laws, who founded the Denver-based grain-to-bottle whiskey distillery with his wife in 2011.