Distillery 291, INC.

Distillery 291 is the Colorado Springs craft distillery whose founding date — September 11, 2011 — and founder's personal history give the operation one of the most editorially specific origin stories in American craft whiskey. Michael Myers, a former New York City fashion photographer, moved to Colorado after the September 11, 2001 attacks fundamentally changed his career trajectory in Manhattan. He spent the next decade researching distilling, building his own equipment, and ultimately establishing Distillery 291 on the 10-year anniversary of the attacks — an intentional editorial bookend to the personal-history arc that brought him from New York fashion photography to Colorado Springs whiskey production.

The technical signature that defines 291 is unique in the global whiskey industry: aspen wood stave finishing. After standard new charred oak barrel aging (typically around a year for the standard releases), Myers inserts toasted aspen wood staves into the barrel for an additional 2-3 weeks before bottling. No other distillery in the world finishes whiskey with aspen — the wood is structurally and chemically different from oak, contributing different tannins, lighter fruit characteristics, and a distinctive softening effect that's become the brand's most-recognized flavor signature. Myers designed his own pot still from old copper photogravure plates (a direct material link to his photography career) and uses it for all distillation.

The product range covers 291 Colorado Rye Whiskey (the flagship, with the aspen stave finish), 291 Colorado Bourbon Whiskey, 291 Small Batch Rye Whiskey, 291 Barrel Proof Single Barrel releases (cask-strength expressions at full barrel proof), 291 Bad Guy Bourbon (an annual experimental release), and the 291 M Colorado Whiskey single-grain releases. The competition record is exceptional for a craft producer of this scale: 2022 American Craft Producer of the Year (Whisky Magazine), World's Best Wheat Whiskey 2021, World's Best Rye Whiskey 2018, and Best American New Make Whiskey in four consecutive years (2020-2023) at the World Whiskies Awards.

The Colorado Springs visitor experience runs through the working distillery and tasting room in the shadow of Pikes Peak — the iconic 14,115-foot mountain that anchors the Colorado Springs skyline and serves as the brand's symbolic geographic identity. Tours include the photogravure-plate still installation, the working rickhouse with active aspen stave finishing barrels visible, and structured tastings that walk through the aspen-finished products alongside the small range of un-finished comparison spirits.