Durango’s Cinnamon Honey Whiskey

Next to Pinkerton Hot Springs and a 15 minute drive from Durango, Colorado is the Honey House Distillery. Their Cinnamon Honey Whiskey is my latest experiment. I haven’t been to the distillery (or the hot springs) but a bottle of their spicy, brilliant red-orange, better than Fireball, whiskey made its way into my cocktail armamentarium.

Honey House Distillery’s Cinnamon Honey Whiskey is a handcrafted, small batch spirit flavored with Honeyville wildflower honey and real cinnamon sticks. Slightly lower in alcohol at 37% (74 proof), compared to standard whiskey, Scotch or bourbon, but close in alcohol strength to Fireball Whisky. Sipped neat, this Colorado whiskey opens the sinuses with intense spice and seduces your inner-child with temptatious aromas of cinnamon toast crunch cereal and snicker doodle cupcakes.

Fun Fact: Whisky in America is legally defined as “Spirits distilled from a fermented mash of grain at less than 95% alcohol by volume (190 proof) having the taste, aroma and characteristics generally attributed to whisky and bottled at not less than 40% alcohol by volume (80 proof).”

On the rocks, Honey House Distillery’s Cinnamon Honey Whiskey is deceivingly delicious and drinks like a mixed cocktail. It is simple, yet delightful. It is also versatile with hot or cold beverages, foods and activities. Spice up your morning cup of coffee. Add an ounce to your afternoon tea. The sweetness in the spirit smooths out the bitterness in coffee and tannin in tea. 

I personally found Trader Joe’s Triple Ginger Snap Cookies heavenly with the Cinnamon Honey Whiskey. Imagine it blended with vanilla ice cream as an adult milkshake! There are endless combinations, but the highest on my check-list are mixing it with eggnog, adding it to horchata, or shaking it up with tequila.

Fun Fact: Cinnamon sticks come from the bark of a small evergreen tree. They grown on plantations in Sri Lanka, India and Brazil.

Both my palate and wanderlust are at attention now, thanks to this whiskey bottle. Ski season is a great time to visit Honey House Distillery and hit the slopes at Purgatory. I can picture my husband dressed in snowboarding gear filling our flasks with Cinnamon Honey Whiskey. However, driving down to Durango mid-summer to experience Mesa Verde National Park, tubing the river, and patio hopping from brewery to distillery to winery also sounds appealing.

In summary, if you like cinnamon, try Honey House Distillery’s Cinnamon Honey Whiskey from Durango. Among all the Fireball-like whiskeys, because there are countless producers now, this one has its own personality.

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