We Tasted Rare Stranahan’s Rare 2024 ‘Cask Thief’ American Single Malt Whiskeys With Head Blender Justin Aden

Stranahan’s Colorado Whiskey is one of the most distinctive, exciting and storied craft distilleries in America. Stranahan’s is a trailblazer of the American single malt category, and the team at the Denver, Colorado distillery makes some genuinely phenomenal whiskey.

Aside from the whiskey itself, one thing that sets Stranahan’s apart is its events. Distilleries are rarely known for their events, but Stranahan’s is a major exception, with multiple annual events that have achieved nationwide renown and sell out year after year.

Probably the most well-known annual Stranahan’s event is the Snowflake Whiskey Festival, during which Stranahan’s unveils its crown jewel Snowflake whiskey each year. Not far behind Snowflake, though, is Cask Thief.

Stranahan’s Cask Thief takes place each May. Attendees travel from far and wide for exclusive sips from some of the rarest barrels in Stranahan’s rack house.

For 2024 Cask Thief, Stranahan’s Head Blender Justin Aden selected seven special casks. We sat down with Aden to discuss Cask Thief and even taste our way through three barrels of his choosing.

Aden takes particular pride in the selections he made for Cask Thief this year because, as he puts it, “we kind of hit all the bases.” Indeed, there were few stones left unturned in the lineup.

Mother Foeder is the lone unfinished member of the lineup. It’s essentially a barrel-proof, non-chill-filtered version of the brand’s popular Blue Peak single malt, which is crafted with a Solera technique.

Red, Malt and Blue incorporated an eight-month bourbon finishing period. The Grapeful Spread, on the other hand, was finished in wine casks sourced from Tuscony and The Rhône. And then there’s the wild-sounding Fruit Hoops, which spent time resting in both blackberry mead and grape brandy casks.

Denver’s beer scene couldn’t be left out, of course, and Exit Sandman was finished in River North Brewery’s award-winning Mr. Sandman imperial stout (which itself was aged in Stranahan’s barrels). For Peat’s Sake is a love letter to scotch; after aging in new oak barrels and sherry casks, it was finished in peated Islay single malt barrels.

And finally, Aden chose Cask Thief 2024 as the moment to unveil Los Dos-catel, which was only available for VIPs to taste. Los Dos Catel saw the return of 2020’s Snowflake release, Sunshine Peak, which was aged in a variety of apple brandy casks, as well as barrels that previously held Moscatel and Cabernet.

The Sunshine Peak that was held back was aged for an additional two years and three months in Moscatel barrels until it was bottled for Cask Thief.

Now, let’s get into the three 2024 Cask Thief expressions we tasted with Aden.

Stranahan’s 2024 Cask Thief Whiskey Tasting With Head Blender Justin Aden

1. Mother Foeder

A foeder, simply put, is an enormous barrel. Stranahan’s has three 3,200-gallon foeders and three 700-gallon ones. For reference, your average barrel used to age whiskey holds about 53 gallons.

These foeders are used for solera-style finishing of Stranahan’s whiskeys. The foeders are never emptied. Instead, once whiskey is taken out, it’s replaced with new liquid. The whiskey finished in these foeders are typically used for Stranahan’s Blue Peak, which is cut to 86 proof.

Mother Foeder, presented at a 113.4 proof,  is a rare opportunity to taste uncut Blue Peak.

Justin Aden on Mother Foeder

• “Blue Peak is a blend of 4- and 5-year-old [whiskey aged in] all virgin American oak, and we fill our barrels at 110, so that gives you a sense of how our proof goes up here in this dry climate. Our angel’s share is overwhelmingly made up of of the water component because there’s such a lack of humidity here. So after four or five years, you’re already at 113 and cruising upwards.”

• “I intentionally made this Mother Foeder the first stop on the tour. Now, people at Cask Thief are welcome to sample in any order they want, but we do have a recommended one, two, three, four, five, six, seven, and this was No. 1. … It was a great place to start because nobody has ever really had access to cask-strength Blue Peak.”
• “It’s a great starting point to see what our base Stranahan’s profile tastes like before it’s been put into finishing barrels.”
• “It’s a fun one, and it did really, really well. Great photo op. People love taking pictures by those big giant foeders.”

Tasting Stranahan’s 2024 Cask Thief Mother Foeder

Nose: Light, crisp, malty and yeasty. Lots of barley character; the scent transports me to memories of trips to breweries and malt distilleries. Plenty of crisp apple character joined by almonds and flaky scones.

Taste: Rich and oaky yet fairly light. Tons of nice barley malt character once again, accompanied by leather, apples, pears, honey and orange zest. There’s an interesting tart note here, sort of a yeast-blackberry hybrid.

Finish: Big apple pie note joined by honey, plenty of oak, pecans, black pepper and tobacco.

Taste: Sweet, lovely single malt. Add cask-strength Blue Peak to the lineup, Stranahan’s!

Rating: 7/10

2. For Peat’s Sake

For Peat’s Sake takes Stranahan’s Sherry Cask and finishes it in quarter casks that previously held peated scotch from Islay. Stranahan’s doesn’t go out of its way to publicize which distillery it sources these casks from, but if you’re curious, simply Google “Islay quarter cask” and see what pops up first.

The final product is just a hair shy of 10 years old and is presented at 110.1 proof.

Justin Aden on For Peat’s Sake

• “We don’t think of it as double finishing. We looked at it as intentionally putting sherry into peated scotch casks, because it’s a nod. It’s an homage to what I believe to be, stylistically, one of the most preeminent single malts in the world. People have heard of heavily peated scotch. They’ve heard of sherried single malt. And this was our tip of the cap to that style of whiskey making.”

• “I was curious … how people would react to a peated release. And keep in mind, it’s not peated malt — it was unpeated, finished in a formerly peated cask — so that’s a big distinction. And it sold out first, which was a really cool thing. You go from a little bit curious to how it’s going to do to kind of a slam dunk hit.”

Tasting Stranahan’s 2024 Cask Thief For Peat’s Sake

Nose: Sweet, creamy and rich on the nose. The peat influence is subtle but begins to subtly waft out after a few minutes in the glass. Delicate peat is joined by loads of lovely blackberry, cherry, waffle cone and vanilla cream.

Taste: Moderate mouthfeel. Peat comes through heavily on the palate and works incredibly well. Tons of smoky peat and sulfur are joined by a great dose of oak with some barley malt character. I’m sort of stunned by how much peat influence is here from just a finish on unpeated whiskey.

Finish: Peaty, ashy, satisfying, long finish with lots of berries. Sage, rosemary, peach, nectarine and a lovely char-filled smoked barbecue note.

Overall: This is a remarkable single malt. The peated finish is beautifully additive to the unpeated malt, and the whiskey is splendidly creamy from top to bottom.

Rating: 8/10

3. Los Dos-catel (VIP Barrel)

This is a continuation on 2020’s Snowflake Sunshine Peak. Aden’s predecessor, Owen Martin (now of Angel’s Envy), held back some barrels of Sunshine Peak. After spending an additional 2.3 years in Moscatel barrels, it returns in new form, now 9.5 years old. At 120.9, this boasts the heftiest proof among the 2024 Cask Thief expressions.

Justin Aden on Los Dos-catel

• “That was just one that our fans went crazy for. I’m not sure anybody’s ever had a snowflake outside of the snowflake event. I’m not sure it’s ever showed up at Cask Thief, and I’m not even sure that we’ve aged former Snowflake this long [before].”
• “Sunshine [Peak] is one of my all-time favorite Snowflakes because it is just even-keeled and beautiful the whole way. … And I think taking that whiskey and returning it to Moscatel, where it got a little bit more sweetness, even a little bit more body, just came up awesome.”

Tasting Stranahan’s 2024 Cask Thief Los Dos-Catel

Nose: Subtle but lovely nose with praline, banana, peaches and cream, lots of red berries, blueberries. Sherry character comes through heavily but doesn’t overpower the palate. The sweet notes are joined by some herbaceous and vestal character reminiscent of the scents of a damp forest.

Taste: Moderate mouthfeel. Sweet and oaky with honeycrisp apple and honey initially, soon joined by tons of Moscatel influence, which settles in with a lovely umami sulfur note followed by lots of sweet calvados influence.

Finish: Wildly long finish that just keeps going and going. Sweet sherry strikes first, followed by white pepper, clove and then big-time Moscatel, which brings back that sulfur note and dances beautifully with calvados and a some cracked pepper.

Overall: Stunning whiskey with loads of depth and character. Wow.

Rating: 8/10

All in all, each of these single malts was creative and delightful in its own way. If you’re interested in tasting some of the best (and most exclusive) American single malt whiskey around, Stranahan’s Cask Thief event should be firmly on your bucket list.

“It was really cool to see the support that Stranahan’s has,” Aden said. “This was the ninth Cask Thief. It was a sell out a full several days before the event, and it was just an awesome time. Weather was beautiful. Live music, food trucks, the whole the whole deal. [It was a] lot of fun.”

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