A Centennial distillery is hoping to raise $5 million as it launches a less expensive bottle.
Branch & Barrel Distillery created Colorado Gold Blended American Whiskey using second-use barrels as a solution for Colorado liquor stores’ decreased foot traffic and to appeal to whiskey lovers at a more reasonable price.
“It’s hitting at the right time,” said Josh Hunt, vice president of sales and marketing. “We read the tea leaves for the market and recognized that people are not comfortable spending over $50 anymore. We want to take that and we want to make it even easier for them to choose us over other brands. So we maintain the quality, we maintain the locality but now we have something that really comes down to the price point people are looking for right now.”
The tasting room currently sells it for $35, according to its website. The distillery’s other whiskey is sold typically for between $50 and-$80.
Colorado liquor stores have seen less traffic and sales, with some even shuttering, thanks to voters opting to allow the sale of first full-strength beer, and then wine, in grocery stores.
With Colorado Gold, founder and owner Ryan Morgan said Branch & Barrel is targeting restaurants and bars that want a local option that won’t cost them or the consumer too much. The quality, Morgan said, stays there without the price point.
A decade ago, Morgan, Scott Freund and Tom Sielaff bought distilling how-to books off Amazon. They created a makeshift still out of an old water heater and spare parts they gathered from their respective jobs in real estate, plumbing and construction. Distilling in Sielaff’s backyard, they put branches from nearby apple trees in mason jars to sit on the shelf for a few months.
“It’s a lot easier to read it than to do it … We failed the first couple months,” Morgan said.
The distillery is now running out of a warehouse in Centennial with a recently expanded tasting room. But the homemade equipment, the human interaction and locally sourced ingredients have stayed the same, Morgan said.
Morgan said the distillery is also looking to grow. Branch & Barrel has launched a fundraising campaign and is looking to raise $5 million at a $13.5 million valuation.
Morgan said they’re hoping to use $1.8 million of that to go toward marketing efforts, $1.5 million toward continued production and facilities upgrades, and $800,000 toward obtaining a second location. The rest would go toward staffing and storage.
Branch & Barrel expanded its tasting room a couple years ago after consistent days of “shoulder-to-shoulder” crowds. Morgan said funds for a second location would go toward an additional tasting room in Highlands Ranch, Castle Rock or Denver.
Branch & Barrel’s current tasting room, with any offerings of its whiskeys, has a “Roll for Old Fashioned” inspired by Dungeons and Dragons where patrons can roll for a unique old fashioned. Each month, distillery director Mitchell Nester creates a unique cocktail that benefits charity, which for the month of July is inspired by pizza.
“We want to be the best distillery in Colorado,” Morgan said. “The best products that really make a splash. When people think Colorado bourbon, they think Branch & Barrel.”
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