Welcome to our Happy Hour Question & Answer series, where we ask questions to interesting people in the alcohol world.

This week’s spotlight is on 291 Colorado Whiskey and Michael Myers. Myers is a former New York City fashion and beauty photographer who launched Distillery 291. Distillery 291 is a small batch distillery that makes award-winning Colorado whiskey and is nestled in the foothills of the Rocky Mountains in Colorado Springs. The distillery sits in the shadows of Cheyenne Mountain and the majestic Pikes Peak which both serve as constant reminders of the founding vision of owner and distiller, Michael Myers, who aims to replicate the taste, smell and folklore of the Wild West — to make whiskey with the character of that unforgettable era.

Hops & Spirits: You were originally a fashion and beauty photographer?
Michael Myers: I only ever wanted to be a photographer. My mother gave me my first camera when I was 15 years old. From that point on it was a permanent fixture in my hand. I was shooting everything from farm animals to high school sports during the school year in Alpharetta, GA, and during Summers in Malibu, cloudscapes, the ocean, and the California desert. I was admitted into the Savannah College of Art and Design in 1983 and graduated with a BFA in Photography & Design. I started working as a photographer in Atlanta before moving to LA to pursue fashion and beauty photography. Work took me to NYC where I shot for nearly every magazine (except American Vogue…) as well as many beauty and fashion brands. I always thought I would die a photographer…

HS: What made you leave New York for Colorado?
MM: 9/11 changed my life (and the world…) My family was living a few blocks away from the World Trade Center and I was walking my 4 and 5-year-old sons to school when the first plane hit. We were there for everything that day… Our apartment overlooked Ground Zero and was quarantined almost immediately. Knowing we wouldn’t be able to be back in our space for quite some time as well as the emotional toll it took on all of us, relocating to be closer to family was an easy decision.

HS: What pushed you to get into the whiskey business?
MM: I commuted between Colorado and NYC for years. Flying back from a Vanity Fair shoot in 2010, I read an article in the New York Times about Stephen Goss, the man who founded the brands Sailor Jerry’s Rum and Hendricks Gin. He came to the liquor industry from the branding side, creating a story and strong brand with which to sell the spirits. I felt I could brand a whiskey using my knowledge from all my work in the fashion world around big brands.

HS: Did you really build your first still from copper photogravure plates that you had once used to create enduring photographic scenes?
MM: Yes! I was bootstrapping 291 Colorado Whiskey from the beginning. I taught myself how to make the whiskey by watching a documentary, reading books and watching YouTube. When I needed equipment, I didn’t have a ton of money to buy it, so I made what I needed out of stainless drums and parts from the plumbing supply store. When it came to my finishing still, I reached out to Vendome and they quoted me $50,000 to build a 50-gallon pot still. At this point, I had never made beer or whiskey. Ordering that still would have been a huge risk and I didn’t even know if I was good at it.  I knew I needed copper and by coincidence, I had experience working with copper plates in my photography career– I built the original still from copper photogravure plates I had used in one of my last “art photography” shows. Photogravure is a type of print that chemically etches a photographic image on copper. The plates I used depicted images that told my story– from the California desert to the Chrysler Building. On September 11, 2011, I pulled my first whiskey off of that still.

HS: Is that original still still being used? Or have y’all upgraded?
MM: Every single drop of 291 has passed through that original still, which now acts as a thump keg to our 300-gallon finishing still. We think it’s one of the things that makes our whiskey so special. Our “new” finishing still was built in 2017 and is an exact replica of my original except bigger almost 10x. The engineer/builder, a DOD company based out of Colorado Springs, used my original design specs to build it.

HS: What’s the meaning behind the name Distillery 291?
MM: The number 291 is meaningful for a few reasons– In my freshman year at SCAD, I learned about gallery 291 founded by Alfred Stieglitz which was the very first photo gallery. The exhibitions helped bring art photography to the same stature in America as painting and sculpture. When I learned about 291, I was living in dorm room 291. I’m all about those “magic numbers”, it made me feel that I was in the right place at the right time and was aimed in the right direction to make my dreams of a career in photography a reality.

After 9/11 changed the course of my life, rerouting my photography career to distilling, my Colorado whiskey brand needed a name. When I built the distillery and practiced the distillation process (which reminded me of all those hours in the darkroom), none of the names I’d contemplated felt quite right. It had to be 291, the magic number connecting my past with my future in whiskey.

HS: What’s it been like seeing 291 grow over the years?
MM: We’ve seen amazing growth over the past 11+ years. I have a great team and we were able to be very, nimble and adaptable leading up to and during COVID. It helped to catapult our brand to a new level. It doesn’t feel that long ago that I was working alone in a 300 sq ft basement, making 60-gallons a month. Now we have 20 Colorado-based employees and about 10 reps out of state, and I’m seeing 291 bottles showing up on bars and in liquor stores all over the United States when I travel. It’s been an amazing journey.

HS: How does Colorado’s climate impact whiskey-making?
MM: There are lots of factors that make 291 Colorado Whiskey different from anything else. I think that the climate definitely plays a part. From the cook to aging in the barrels, altitude and climate are affecting the whiskey-making process. We are able to pull more flavors out of our new make because of our cooking process. And because Colorado Springs is considered an alpine desert, as our barrels age, we lose water faster than we lose proof. Our final proofs are almost always (much) higher than what we filled. Big, bold Colorado Whiskey.

HS: Y’all focus on your rye whiskeys more than others, why is that?
MM: I set out to make a western whiskey, to me that meant an unapologetic rye whiskey.  I wanted to make the whiskey from the old movies– someone walking through swinging doors into a bar, saying “give me a whiskey” and that whiskey would be 291… I love Kentucky bourbon & Tennessee whiskey, but that’s not what we’re trying to make. 291 Colorado Whiskey is Rugged, Refined, Rebellious® Rye (and bourbon whiskey).

HS: You also do finishes in Aspen Wood Staves, how did that come to be?
MM: As a Colorado brand, I wanted Aspen on the label. I wanted to create that sense of place with my whiskey. My father raised Tennessee Walking Horses on a gentlemen’s ranch between Jack Daniels and Dickel. So, I was familiar with the maple charcoal mellowing process of the Tennessee whiskeys. I thought. “what if I could do something like that in Colorado?” I toasted some aspen staves and steeped them in a jar of White Dog to see if it did anything to the whiskey. I agitated the jar with the staves over the course of a road trip and when I tasted the whiskey, I knew it added just enough Colorado character…

HS: What’s next/coming up from you all?
MM: We are excited about growing our new distribution partnerships, but I’m also looking forward to spending more quality time in Colorado. We worked hard to establish a strong reputation and connection to the brand at home. There is significant potential for growth in other regions and we are adding to the team to facilitate that growth. Additionally, as the demand for high-quality, unique, and locally sourced whiskey continues to grow globally, 291 Colorado Whiskey is well-positioned to expand its reach and appeal to new audiences.

We’ve been having fun with our recent releases and have a few more up our sleeve this year including our 291 E Colorado Whiskey Batch 13, an American Single Malt, which just won a double platinum in the ASCOT Awards. We’re also releasing Barrel 1000 of our 291 Colorado Bourbon Whiskey for Father’s Day as well as our 291 E Colorado Whiskey Batch 12, a Wheated Bourbon on 6/23/23.

HS: Where can folks find 291 Colorado Whiskey?
MM: We are considered an emerging brand on the national market and have also developed a thriving e-commerce business. We are currently physically distributed in 25 states, the largest being our home state of Colorado followed by Texas, California, Georgia, Ohio, Kentucky, and more. We are excited about our partnership in Mexico and continued growth in Europe (Masters of Malt). If you can’t find us in-store, there is a link on our website for online fulfillment in about 30 states. Additionally, we release all of our special release whiskeys through Seelbachs.com.