Don’t be surprised if you hear John Lupori of the local Brian Smith Band belt out a version of “American Woman’ by The Guess Who this summer. That’s also the name of his new whiskey line.
This spring, locals Lupori and Sara Cobb launched their new American Woman Whiskey brand, whose 63 90-proof barrels just finished their aging process in Denver. The bottles, 20,000 of them, are now ready for distribution and can be found in local liquor stores and even The Press, the music venue Lupori’s band often plays at downtown.
“I wish to live to be 150, but the day I die, I wish it to be with a cigarette in one hand and a glass of whiskey in the other.”
Ava Gardner
The whiskey won the silver medal in the North American Bourbon and Whiskey Competition, but what makes it more distinctive is its bottle: It comes in a custom, woman-shaped glass flask, reminiscent of an ancient Roman sculpture.
“It’s pretty unique to the market and even has a design patent,” says Cobb, a female branding and marketing executive. “There’s no custom bottle like it out there. It’s a great, mid-premium-level bourbon — a combo of whiskey, art and Americana.”
As well as a female-themed flagon, the company also donates 1 percent of revenues to women’s betterment programs. For fans of agave, the distilling duo also plans to use the same bottle shape for tequila.
