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Colter’s Run Bourbon is bottled by the Grand Teton Distillery in Driggs, Idaho. They are distilling a vodka made from potatoes to pay bills until they can make and age their whiskey. In the meantime, the Colter’s Run Bourbon is sourced from Indiana and has a mash bill of 74% corn, 21% rye and 5% malted barley. The Grand Teton Distillery has sourced the new-make spirit and brought it to Idaho and aged it at their distillery. At 6,000 feet above sea level, there are some extreme ranges of temperature during the aging process and they hope this makes their whiskey distinctive from other whiskeys from the same source. I have bottle number 759 from barrel 58, indicating that it is a single barrel product, but the label states it is a small batch. A single barrel is the ultimate small batch, but it does make me wonder if this bottle was a private barrel selection and the brand is normally a small batch of multiple barrels. 

The brand gets its name from John Colter, who in 1809 was captured by a Blackfoot hunting party who decided to hunt him. They made him start running and they followed. He managed to out run all of his pursuers except one, who he then turned on and managed to dispatch. He then hid in a beaver lodge until dark and spent the next eleven days walking to a settlement. 

Colter’s Run Bourbon

Proof: 88

Age: No Age Statement

Nose:

• Mike: Vanilla with a hint of wild berries and oak.
• Matt: Corn, caramel, vanilla and lilacs with a hint of oak.

Taste:

• Mike: Vanilla with raspberries and a little lemon zest, cardamom spice and oak wood. Tasted with a dried cranberry and ginger and cinnamon spice emerge to join the party. Tasted with a pecan and the vanilla becomes a creamy French vanilla and the oak wood is enhanced.
• Matt: Creamed corn and vanilla with butter and lemon and a hint of oak wood. The dried cranberry added some spice notes like a chai latte. The pecan brought out some cocoa notes and a buttery mouth-feel.

Finish:

• Mike: Medium long with oak and spice. The dried cranberry brought the spice forward. The pecan made the finish long with a little sweetness from the lingering French vanilla.
• Matt: Very smooth with oak. The dried cranberry added some spiciness and a hint of citrus to the finish. The pecan added some notes of leather and tobacco to the finish.

I would pair this Bourbon with a cigar that is light and fruity in its smoke. I would reach for a Nat Sherman Metropolitan Connecticut wrapper cigar.

Photos Courtesy of Rosemary Miller