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A Durango Family Distillery, Built on the Town's Own Stories

Durango's first legal Grain-to-Glass Distillery since Prohibition — founded by Michael and Amy McCardell, longtime Durango residents.

Meet Our Spirits

Inspired by the True Spirit of Durango

Through our products and cocktail offerings we enjoy sharing stories of Durango's vibrant past while becoming a part of Durango's history. Hard work and ingenuity are qualities rooted within Durango's threadwork; those same qualities show through in our spirits and cocktails.

We look forward to being a mainstay in downtown Durango and contributing to our dynamic business community. The heart of our logo is an artistic rendering of Silver Mountain, a majestic icon of Durango.

From Durango's Founding to Your Glass

The dates behind our labels — and behind the distillery itself.

  1. A narrow-gauge steam train on the Durango railroad line

    Durango Is Founded

    Each of our bottles shares a tale of the people who were important in the founding of Durango.

  2. A dark charred oak barrel

    Colorado Goes Dry

    Prohibition passed in Colorado four years before the rest of the country. Moonshiners hid their stills in abandoned mines.

  3. A copper still against an old brick wall

    Our Building Goes Up

    The building at 1120 Main Avenue opened as Durango's first Safeway, and was later home to the Back Space Theatre.

  4. Three tasting glasses of amber whiskey on a round bar table

    The Tasting Room Opens

    In January, Michael and Amy McCardell open Durango Craft Spirits — Durango's first legal grain-to-glass distillery since Prohibition.

  5. Rows of oak barrels aging

    First Cinder Dick Released

    On December 1, our first batch of Cinder Dick Straight Bourbon, aged two years in new charred American oak, is released.

  6. Two glasses of amber whiskey on a dark surface

    McCardell's Private Reserve

    In December, our first single malt and first limited release: 500 bottles of American Single Malt Whiskey, aged four years in used Cinder Dick barrels.

Dried white corn kernels

All Colorado, All the Time

Our spirits are hand-crafted, mashed, distilled and bottled in our distillery in downtown Durango, using only regional grains.

Our corn is non-GMO white corn from the Ute Mountain Ute Tribe's Bow & Arrow farm in Towaoc. The rest of our grain comes from the Colorado Malting Company in Alamosa.

How We Make It

I wanted to be like a distillery would have been 100 years ago … I wanted to use all regional grains. I wanted to go grain to glass.

— Michael McCardell, distiller and co-owner
Hammered copper pot still and column inside a distillery

Taste the Rest of the Story

Every bottle has a Durango tale. Come hear it over a cocktail in the Tasting Room.

Visit the Tasting Room Meet Our Spirits