Fireside Straight Bourbon Whiskey

Fireside Straight Bourbon Whiskey is distilled by Mile High Spirits in Denver, Colorado, from a mash bill of locally sourced corn, barley, and rye, then aged in new oak and proofed to 80 with Rocky Mountain water. What distinguishes this bourbon from the Kentucky mainstream is the distillery's use of chocolate malt in the grain bill, a technique borrowed from brewing that adds a cocoa-forward undertone rarely found in American whiskey. The result is a bourbon that reads familiar but tastes uncommonly layered, with a malt-driven richness that sets it apart on a Chicago back bar. Mile High Spirits operates out of a copper-pot distillery in Denver's Ballpark neighborhood, where founder and head distiller Stephen Gould runs grain-to-glass production with a focus on ingredient transparency and local sourcing. The chocolate malt — typically reserved for stouts and porters — is kilned darker than standard two-row, contributing roasted, bittersweet notes without the peat smoke of Scotch malt whisky. Fermentation and distillation happen on-site in traditional copper stills, and the whiskey is aged in heavily charred American oak before being cut with snowmelt-fed Rocky Mountain water. The distillery's ethos — "we take our spirits seriously, but not ourselves" — shows up in the bottle: this is craft whiskey made with rigor, not hype. The nose opens with caramel, vanilla bean, and a hint of orchard fruit — apple skin, underripe pear. On the palate, Fireside delivers cherry cordial, dark brown sugar, butter toffee, and that signature cocoa-malt backbone, which reads less like sweetness and more like baking chocolate and toasted grain. The finish is long, warm, and coffee-edged, with lingering caramel and a slight drying tannin from the oak. It's approachable enough to sip neat or over a single large cube, but the 80-proof structure and malt complexity make it an excellent Old Fashioned base — the chocolate note plays beautifully with Angostura and orange peel. Pair it with grilled steak, dark chocolate desserts, or a post-dinner cigar on a cool evening. Fireside Straight Bourbon Whiskey is available for pickup at Off Premise in Lincoln Park at 1128 W Armitage Ave, local delivery throughout Chicago, and nationwide shipping where allowed.