MANCOS, CO - Ian Michaels James.
It sounds Scottish. It is Scottish. And Ian, which is Scottish for John, said he was born to distill spirits.
James opened the Mancos Valley Distillery, located off Main Street down Ian’s Alley, in January 2009. Today he distills and bottles small batches of white rum, spiced rum and coffee liqueur rum.
A former commercial brewer for nearly two decades in Durango and Cortez, James envisioned that he would one day operate his own brewery. Market forces and economies of scale hampered that dream, so he opted to use his brewing skills to manufacture spirits.
“The distilling process took a little bit of trial and error,” James explained.
A Colorado native, James said he moved to the area because he was a fan of the Mancos Valley: “I like the wide open spaces, but it’s still at a nice elevation.”
“The people are the best here,” he continued. “Like any small town, it takes a while to develop relationships, but it’s a great family community.”
James uses both proven and innovative distillation techniques to produce his local rums. The process starts with a 75-gallon sugar cane juice mash. Following fermentation, the concoction results in a sugar cane wine at about 12.5 percent alcohol.
“I double distill the sugar cane wine in pot stills,” James explained. “Then I run it through a polishing still, and end up with about seven cases of 80-proof rum.”
Using five copper-clad pots, the production from cane to bottle requires approximately two weeks, James said.
When possible, James uses local products during production. For example, his Colorado Coffee liqueur rum is spiced with coffee beans from the Fahrenheit Coffee Roasters Espresso Bar in Mancos.
“When people buy local products, then it helps feed a local family,” James said.
The white rum is a basic mixer, and the spiced infused rum includes notes of cinnamon, orange peel, cloves and allspice.
Once packaged, the rum is available on site as well as across southwest Colorado at various bars, restaurants and liquor stores. James hopes to expand into the Denver area, once he completes the installation of two seven-barrel fermenters later this year.
“There are more liquor stores on the Front Range than there are people in Montezuma County,” James said. “I don’t know that for a fact, but it sounds good.”
A one-man business operation, James said he constructed the distillery mainly from salvaged, recycled pieces and parts that he had acquired over the years. He also relied on family and friends who were welders and carpenters.
Describing the time-consuming, painful process of obtaining a federal licensing to open a distillery, James said if he could go back and start over, then he would have sought an investor.
“My whole goal was to open the distillery on a shoestring budget, and then find someone down the road to help me get to the next level,” James said. “With a partner, I probably could have reached goals a lot quicker.”
A generous supporter of the community, James leads the local Clampers chapter, a historical and fraternal organization known as E Clampus Vitus, and he’s always willing to pitch in a couple of bottles for charity events in town, said Mike Treho, lead bartender at The Columbine Bar in downtown Mancos.
“Ian’s a good man.” Treho said. “He’s a valuable member of the community.”
Treho prefers the Mancos Valley Distillery’s Spiced Rum, but added that all three are quality products.
“What I like most is Ian doesn’t cut corners,” Treho said. “He doesn’t skimp on anything. He uses all natural ingredients, and that’s really cool.”
Known as the distillery’s top fan, Treho said he enjoys James’ friendship, because he gets to serve as a guinea pig when new batches are distilled.
“We made a rum once that tasted like a smoked whiskey,” Treho said.
Treho said the Mancos Valley Distillery not only adds to the community’s charm, but also helps spur economic activity downtown.
“It helps generate more foot traffic for other businesses,” he said.
Mancos Chamber of Commerce administrator Marianne Griffin said local business leaders depend on community support. The town launched the Mancos Valley First campaign to encourage residents to consider local businesses first, before shopping out of town.
“We encourage people to buy local, and that includes local rum,” said Griffin.
After drinking too much of his rum, James the Scotsman supports one Mancos business in particular.
“The best hangover cure is a glass of chocolate milk and a breakfast burrito from Ted’s Taco,” he said, chuckling. “That’s the Mancos cure.”
In addition to manufacturing, the Mancos Valley Distillery also serves as a tasting room with live music on the weekends. James’ best advice: “Come try one of our ‘Tastes Like Friday,’” he said. “It’s our signature cocktail featuring our white rum with ginger ale and a squeeze of fresh orange. It’s light and refreshing.”
The Mancos Valley Distillery is holding a birthday bash for owner Ian James on Friday, June 7, featuring live music by Mancos own pop-punk band Comeback. Doors open at 5 p.m. with a $3 cover fee.