Breckenridge Distillery Planning Expansion

From Shanken:

With volume surging, Colorado’s Breckenridge Distillery has embarked on an expansion plan to keep up with rising demand across its 30-state distribution footprint. Known for its Breckenridge Bourbon ($42 a bottle) and Breckenridge vodka ($26), the company’s orders for 2012 to date—totaling 20,000 six-pack cases—have more than doubled compared with all of 2011. Colorado, New York, New Jersey, Connecticut, Florida, Georgia, Texas, Illinois and Massachusetts currently rank among the craft distiller’s top markets.

Breckenridge founder and CEO Bryan Nolt tells Shanken News Daily the company has now broken ground on “phase two” of its growth plan, which includes increasing its Bourbon distillation from a few barrels a day to a maximum capacity of 15 barrels a day. “When that’s complete,” he adds, “we plan to head straight into phase three, increasing our barrel house holding capacity to 15,000 barrels.”

While its Bourbon and vodka have so far led the way, Breckenridge is preparing to spread its wings with several new products. Its Breckenridge bitters ($32) are currently being launched in select markets, and over the next month it will be releasing a few thousand bottles each of several specialty spirits, including a spiced rum, Colorado pear and peach eaux de vie, a chili vodka and a peach Bourbon liqueur.

A few new whiskey releases are also in the works. Breckenridge plans to introduce a single-barrel Bourbon packaged in a decanter and leather gift box this fall and will release a limited-edition spiced Bourbon around the holidays. Finally, next year the distillery will begin rolling out smaller-format bottles of a new barley whiskey, which Nolt says is made in the “Scotch style, but with a maximum utilization of specialty malts.” This Scotch-style Colorado whiskey is already garnering more than its share of interest, he adds, even with its release still several months off.
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