Colorado Bloody Butcher & HAZMAT Rye Single Barrels???

If we were gatekeeping great whiskey, we wouldn't be writing this.
 
After we first introduced Woody Creek and their William H. Macy Rye last year, we had the opportunity to bring in hazmat single barrels of both that rye and their 12-year Bloody Butcher bourbon. Both immediately sold out in PRO. When the chance came around to pick more, we already knew what we had to do.
 
Woody Creek Distillers is a grain-to-glass distillery based in Basalt, Colorado, founded in 2012 by Mary and Pat Scanlan and Mark Kleckner. They grow or locally source 100% of their grains and potatoes, distilling everything on custom CARL copper stills. While they’re best known for their vodka and gin, it was their whiskey, especially the William H. Macy Reserve Rye, that grabbed our attention last year, landing #2 on my Top Craft Whiskeys of 2025.
 
We’re back today with Batch 03. Still 10 years old and 100 proof, but now with a mashbill of 83% Elbon rye, 14% #2 dent corn, and 3% malted barley, all grown in Colorado and milled onsite.
 
But the releases don’t stop there.
 
Their vodka doesn’t rely on shortcuts. It starts with 100% fresh Colorado potatoes, grown just miles away at Price Farms and handled start to finish in Basalt. Distilled once and left unfiltered, it keeps its natural body and character intact. Clean, yes, but never stripped down. Just real ingredients, real texture, and a vodka that actually tastes like something.
 
Distilled from that same potato base, Mary’s Gin features 17 botanicals, including rhubarb, yuzu, elderflower, citrus peels, lemongrass, and lavender. Naturally colored with butterfly pea flower, it pours a deep indigo that transforms with citrus. No artificial coloring, just intention.
 
Now about those single barrels I mentioned in the beginning...
 
Releases like these feel almost unbelievable. It’s always exciting to find something special from a newer brand, but when it also brings big age, big proof, and no one’s really talking about it, that’s when things get interesting.
 
First up is a stat line that gets our craft-loving hearts racing: a 12-year-old, 137 proof, 100% Bloody Butcher single barrel bourbon. The corn was grown by Pat Scanlan on his farm in upstate New York, then milled, distilled, and aged onsite in Basalt, Colorado. Only three barrels were ever produced, and the first sold out last year to PRO members.
 
To me, this barrel leans a bit more refined than the last. When it comes to 100% red corn, this sits closer to Heaven Hill in profile if High Wire's Jimmy Red was Buffalo Trace.
 
The nose begins with spices low in the glass, like stovetop spices that have been simmering all day. Silky caramel and vanilla glaze cover fresh leather and tobacco accords. It’s deep but not too heavy, offering nuanced layers of antique oak, cola concentrate, and subtle fruity pops that are harder to discern. There’s a lot to pull back here, especially if you like layered spice.


Rich, textured, and oily mouthfeel. A brûléed, oaky custard bomb with beautifully accompanying spice. Torched green apple spices, plenty of orange oils, and pops of black pepper and cardamom make this an incredibly structured bourbon for being 100% corn. A caramel-swirled milk chocolate note hits the mid-palate, bringing a chewiness that usually comes from dried fruit without leaning overly fruity.

The finish leans more into dried dark fruits, think dried cherry, cranberry, and raisin, while enjoying a root beer float with chocolate soft serve in the middle of a rickhouse.

Next up is a 10-year-old, 100% Colorado Elbon Rye coming in at 145.2 proof. Last year's release was my favorite rye single barrel all year long. How does this one stack up? For starters, it drinks nowhere near its proof, and is an absolute lemon lime oak bomb in the best way possible. With only 108 bottles, this one shouldn't last long. 
 
Absolutely marvelous start to the nose. Much like our last barrel, it’s unassuming for 145 proof, giving off gorgeous aromas of lemon-lime soda concentrate, Dutch apple pie, Concord grape juice, soft leather, and beautiful antique oak. It’s incredibly playful, candied, and sweet, especially for a 10-year 100% rye.
 
The palate is dangerously easy, beginning like a boozy fruit punch, laying on thick with sugary lemon-lime concentrate and moving into notes of pineapple, apricot, and maraschino cherry, continuing with this syrupy, rum-like sweetness. While a sweet oak note is present, the age isn’t the focus here, which is always commendable for a 10-year whiskey.
 
It comes full circle on the finish, with this sweet-and-spice interplay more akin to Tajín-topped watermelon. Long-lasting cane sugar syrup, lemon and lime juice, and sweet waves of oak continue blanketing the palate well after the sip is done.