Stranahan's Colorado Whiskey the 2012 film "The Magic of Belle Isle". Stranahan's Colorado Whiskey Stranahan's Colorado Whiskey is a 94 proof, small batch whiskey distilled in Denver, Colorado. Stranahan's was the first modern microdistillery to legally make whiskey in Colorado, and an early craft whiskey distiller in the United States. Stranahan's was founded by Jess Graber and George Stranahan, after whom the whiskey is named, in Colorado in 2004. In 1998, Graber, a volunteer firefighter, met Stranahan, the founder and owner of Flying Dog Brewery, while fighting a fire at Stranahan's barn. They struck up a conversation about whiskey, and were soon in
Whiskey Rebellion Farmers living west of the Appalachian Mountains distilled their excess grain into whiskey, which was easier and more profitable to transport over the mountains than the more cumbersome grain. A whiskey tax would make western farmers less competitive with eastern grain producers. Additionally, cash was always in short supply on the frontier, so whiskey often served as a medium of exchange. For poorer people who were paid in whiskey, the excise was essentially an income tax that wealthier easterners did not pay. Small-scale farmers also protested that Hamilton's excise effectively gave unfair tax breaks to large distillers, most of whom