Laws Whiskey House Bonded Whiskies

Bourbon, Spirit Reviews, Whiskey, Whisky

Laws Whiskey House’s bonded whiskies – a rye and a bourbon – are made in Colorado to strict regulations using local grains.

I’ve always loved Colorado and have developed a real fondness for their whiskies and other spirits after visits to the distilleries at Stranahan’s and Leopold Brothers in Denver. Now there’s Laws Whiskey House, which was established in 2011, to go see on my next visit to the Mile-High City.

Laws Whiskey House

Laws Whiskey House is the first distillery in Colorado to produce bonded whiskies. I do wonder why anyone goes to the trouble of making bonded whiskies when you read the strict regulations that govern their production (see below). It clearly shows a dedication to making the best whiskies possible, and these include a bonded bourbon and a bonded straight rye whiskey.

What Is Bonded Whiskey?

Bonded whiskey, or bottled-in-bond whiskey, is whiskey that’s been made adhering to strict legal requirements set out in the Bottled-in-Bond Act of 1897. This was brought in to try to prevent the increasing amount of adulteration that was happening to whiskey at the time.

A bonded whiskey must be made during a single distillation season (January–June or July–December) by one distiller at one distillery. It must have been aged in a federally bonded warehouse for at least four years and bottled at 50% ABV (100 proof). There are also certain labeling requirements too.

Laws Limited Releases

Laws also make some limited edition whiskies, which are made seasonally in small batches and only available till they sell out. These have included some very interesting-sounding whiskies like a straight bourbon finished in a honey cask, a rye whiskey finished in a sauternes cask, and a wheat whiskey finished in a curacao cask. Don’t those all sound totally delicious already?

Laws Whiskey House Bonded Whiskies

Laws make a bottled-in-bond straight rye whiskey that’s made from grain grown 8,000 feet high in the Rocky Mountains, 200 miles south of Denver in the San Luis Valley. All of Laws Whiskey House’s grains come from family-owned farms, this one in Southern Colorado, the other on the lovely Eastern Plains, which we’ve driven through many times on our travels.

Laws Bonded San Luis Valley Straight Rye Whiskey – Batch #2

Straight rye whiskey is whiskey that’s made from at least 51% rye and aged for at least two years. Laws’ straight rye is actually 95% rye and 5% barley, and aged for six years in heavily charred barrels. As it’s also 50% ABV you know it’s going to pack a punch in both alcohol and flavor. And it does!

It’s a beautifully rich deep golden color, and one sniff is enough to knock your socks off, if you happen to be wearing any at the time. It’s whiskey-smoky but also fresh and fruity, with notes of orange peel, caramel and mint as well as cloves for added spice. It amazingly manages to get even better on the palate, with all those aromas turned into intense flavors. The caramel now tastes like a bright butterscotch, the cloves are joined by cinnamon and pepper, and there’s a heady swirl of vanilla, cream, honey, and more mint. At $75 for a 750ml bottle it isn’t cheap, but given the work that goes into it, and the pleasure that comes out of it as you sip and savor, it’s worth every single cent.

Laws Bonded 6 Year Four Grain Straight Bourbon Whiskey – Batch #4

The same goes for this other new bonded expression, which also sells for $75. It just depends whether your preference is for rye whiskies or for bourbons. This one is made up of 60% corn, 20% wheat, 10% rye, and 10% malted barley.

The color is equally rich, deep, golden, and tempting. On the nose there’s immediately vanilla and oak from the barrel, quickly followed by fruity cherry and apple notes, grassy freshness, and cloves for a dash of spice. These are the kind of quality whiskies that reward you spending a few minutes simply sniffing them, till the desire to taste it becomes irresistible. Now you get vanilla and honey sweetness, some caramel too, plus apples, oranges, cloves, cinnamon, and pepper. Different flavors seem to dominate on different sips, in a whiskey with this complexity.