For years, guys who love a good whiskey have been chasing the next big thing—something that feels familiar in the glass but surprises the hell out of you on the first sip. Turns out a small outfit up in the Colorado mountains might have just dropped exactly that.
Hoot + Howl Spirits, a craft distillery most folks outside the Centennial State have never heard of, quietly started shipping their brand-new Amaro Cask Bourbon straight to doorsteps all across America this week. And if the early buzz is any indication, a lot of bottles won’t be sitting on shelves very long.
Picture this: a seven-year-old bourbon that spent an extra full year resting inside barrels that once held real Sicilian amaro. Not some fake flavoring squirted in at the end—actual casks that carried bitter-orange, herb-and-spice-laden Italian amaro across the ocean. The result, according to everyone who’s gotten an early taste, drinks like someone poured you the world’s most perfect Black Manhattan… except it’s straight whiskey, no cherry garnish required.
Callan Deline, the founder who’s been tinkering with old-school recipes since he started the company, didn’t hold back when the release was announced. “We’ve been patiently refining this bourbon for years using historical techniques, and with the amaro cask bringing such unique notes, we believe this is a truly special release,” Deline said. “We’re thrilled to finally share Amaro Cask Bourbon with whiskey lovers across the country.”
He’s got reason to be proud. Just a few weeks ago at the 2025 Heartland Whiskey Competition, this same Amaro Cask Bourbon walked away with a silver medal. Their Armagnac Cask Bourbon took silver too—and got crowned Best of Colorado while it was at it. Two medals, one Best in State, all from a tiny mountain distillery most bourbon drinkers have never even heard of. That’s the kind of night that makes competitors sweat.
What makes Hoot + Howl different isn’t marketing hype; it’s the way they treat every barrel like it’s 1890 again. They hand-pick casks, slowly blend batches, “raise” the barrels the old-fashioned way, and proof everything down drop by drop. No rushing, no shortcuts. When you taste the Amaro Cask, those bitter orange peel notes, the baking-spice warmth, the hint of dark cherry that sneaks up on the finish—it all feels intentional, like somebody actually thought about what would happen if a classic cocktail and a great bourbon had a kid.
Up to now, if you wanted to try anything from Hoot + Howl you pretty much had to be in Colorado or know somebody who was. That changed the minute they flipped the switch on nationwide direct shipping. As of right now, any adult in the lower 48 (sorry Alaska and Hawaii, rules are rules) can have a bottle on the way in a couple of clicks. Colorado liquor stores will start seeing it on shelves in the next few weeks, but the rest of the country doesn’t have to wait.
The distillery itself sits up in the Front Range, surrounded by the kind of views that make you want to pour something strong and just stare for a while. Callan Deline and head distiller Chris Ritenour have been cooking up oddball, historically inspired stuff for years—black tea liqueur, a gin that actually tastes like the mountains, even a rye that nods to pre-Prohibition recipes. But the barrel-finished bourbons are what’s turning serious whiskey heads into evangelists.
If you’re the type who keeps a bottle of Rittenhouse and a good sweet vermouth on the bar just in case company shows up, this Amaro Cask might replace both. Neat, it’s complex enough to sip all night. One big rock and it opens up like a dessert cocktail. Some early reviewers are already mixing it into actual Black Manhattans and claiming they’ll never go back to plain rye again.
At a time when every big brand seems to be chasing the same toasted-barrel, high-rye, limited-edition formula, a little Colorado distillery decided to finish bourbon in Sicilian amaro casks and ship it to your front porch. And somehow it works—really, really well.
So if your whiskey shelf is starting to feel a little predictable, or you’ve ever muttered “I wish somebody would just put a Black Manhattan in a bourbon bottle,” your wait might be over. One silver medal, one Best of Colorado trophy, and a whole lot of guys across the country cracking open boxes this weekend say the same thing:
Hoot + Howl’s Amaro Cask Bourbon isn’t just different. It might just be the next bottle you don’t let yourself run out of.
You can grab it right now at hootandhowl.co with shipping anywhere whiskey is legal. Just don’t sleep on it—when something this tasty finally goes nationwide for the first time, the smart money says it won’t stay in stock forever.
