Noco Founders Reserve is NOCO Distillery's single barrel bourbon from its Bourbon II mash bill, bottled at cask strength. In 2024 it earned the Colorado distillery the title of best micro-distillery at the International Whisky Competition.
About This Bourbon
Each bottling comes from one barrel, so strength and flavour differ from cask to cask. At the 2024 competition the Founders Reserve scored 94.49 points in a double-blind tasting, the highest among US micro-distilleries. It also took first place for single barrel bourbon, and second places in the American whiskey, cask strength bourbon and bourbon categories.
Tasting Profile
- Nose: Toffee and dark vanilla, with toasted oak and baked fruit.
- Palate: Full and warming. Caramel, cinnamon and cocoa, with the heat of cask strength.
- Finish: Drying oak and spice that fade slowly.
Serving & Food
Taste it neat, then add still water little by little until it opens. A charred pork chop with apple sauce sits well with the caramel.
How to Enjoy
Pour it beside a Kentucky single barrel and taste what a small Colorado distillery can do.
Product Details
Producer: NOCO Distillery
Expression: Founders Reserve Single Barrel, Mash Bill II
Strength: Cask strength, varies by barrel
Region: Fort Collins, Colorado, USA
Volume: 750mL
About the Distillery
NOCO describes itself as a micro-distillery making more than 25 spirits, and it ages them in barrels from 5 to 100 gallons, sometimes finishing them in up to nine other woods.
Distillation is slow, to increase copper contact and reflux, with narrow cuts. In January 2026 the distillery announced its expansion into Wisconsin and its first international markets, Hong Kong and Switzerland.