Breckenridge Distillery’s February Release: Series Five, Sexy Motor Oil
On February 14th, things are getting ‘Sexy’ with the fifth release of Sexy Motor Oil. Series Five brings unique flavors of cherry, caramel, and cinnamon. As the story goes, Breckenridge Brewery took our freshly dumped Bourbon Whiskey barrels and aged their Imperial Oatmeal Stout in them. YUM! We took those barrels back and filled them with Bourbon Whiskey and aged it for over a year and we are calling this one, Sexy Motor Oil.
This release will be the sixth time we’ve produced a beer-barreled whiskey and they have all been damn good so far. This original collab kickstarted a larger partnership with Breckenridge Brewery with the biggest collaborative release in Nov. 2021 with Buddy Pass, an Imperial Stout Cask Finish Whiskey.
The Story Behind the Original Sexy Motor Oil
If the name Sexy Motor Oil (SMO) doesn’t intrigue you enough, then the story behind it will. So here we go. It is not uncommon for the Breckenridge Distillery to be confused with the Breckenridge Brewery and vice versa. That is reason enough to collaborate, but let’s set things straight, we distill whiskey and they brew beer.
SMO started as Breckenridge Brew Pub’s Imperial Oatmeal Stout. We asked Hans Stafsholt, Breckenridge Distillery’s Head Distiller, Jimmy Walker, Breckenridge Brew Pub’s Head Brewer and Breckenridge Brew Pub Brewers Stone Fisher and Suzanne Nance to tell the story about their Sexy Motor Oil beer and why we decided to turn that into a beer-barrel whiskey.
“They get our barrels for their Sexy and we get their barrels back for our Sexy.”
-Hans Stafsholt, Head Distiller.
The Design
When designing the label, Founder Bryan Nolt wanted something subtle because the whisky itself was already so complex. A local artist put pencil to paper to design something simple yet “sexy.”
The name, Sexy Motor Oil
A few years ago now, Jimmy and Suzanne were doing a little “market research” (if you will) after a long day’s work at her husband Anthony’s bar, Kenosha Steakhouse. They cruised over to talk shop and sip on the infamous Bourbon County from Goose Island Brewing in Chicago. Bourbon County is a beers nerd’s Phoenix, coveted and hard to come by, most noted for its boozy notes and dreamy smooth finish. Anthony was taking sips of beer with them and out of his mouth came…”Yummmm, this is like sexy motor oil!” Jimmy and Suzanne’s ears perked up, they looked at each other with a mutual smirk of brewer’s insider knowledge and Jimmy stated: “we’re creating a beer for that name.” And thus, Sexy Motor Oil was born. “We knew the name before we knew the beer,” said Suzanne. “Getting SMO’d is for real!”
Barrel-aged beer to beer-barreled whiskey
SMO was brewed to be very high in alcohol and easily taken as a “shot” replacement. The bold, smooth flavors of chocolate and roasted barley complement the flavors of our whiskey perfectly. We fantasized about how we could do a collaboration using these barrels to age the whiskey for a full loop. “They get our barrels for their Sexy and we get their barrels back for our Sexy,” said Hans Stafsholt.
Hans Stafsholt and Blake Schwalls/Breckenridge Brew Pub filling empty Breckenridge Bourbon barrels with SMO
“SMO and Breckenridge Whiskey work so well together because, on the surface, they both have quite intense flavors,” explains Stone Fisher. “The more experienced taster will begin to discover the intense caramel notes of whiskey pairing with the chocolate notes of the SMO. The high alcohols of the whiskey can be muddled by the smoothness of the SMO. By aging & reverse aging, both products benefit by gaining flavors that otherwise couldn’t be imparted during their respective production processes.”
The Production Process
Our whiskey barrels are freshly dumped and personally taken to the brewery to be filled with their SMO Imperial Stout. SMO has the most complex grain bill of any beer the Brewery brews; rye barley, roasted barley, double roasted crystal malt, chocolate malt and oatmeal. All of these malts combine to give SMO a smooth, rich complex flavor.
Breckenridge Distillery filling the freshly dumped SMO barrels with Breckenridge Bourbon
These barrels are monitored for flavor and maturation rate (each barrel is different) over the course of the beer’s residency right up until the Brewery feels the beer has the right balance of bourbon characteristics. Months, to sometimes more than a year later, the Brewery harvests the beer from the barrels and get them back to the Distillery as quick as possible, sometimes in 20 minutes or less. For 10-13 months, the whiskey sits in the beer barrels mingling with the stout flavors left in the barrel. Once the barrels have reached the perfect flavor profile, we empty the barrels, decide on the perfect proof, in this case, we went straight barrel proof (around 105pf), bottle it and it hits the shelves.
Tasting Notes: Series Five Sexy Motor Oil
Series 5 releases 02/14/25 is exclusively sold at Breckenridge Distillery and Main Street Tasting Room.
The Cocktail: Motor Oil Elixir
Motor Oil Elixir
2 oz Breckenridge Sexy Motor Oil
1 oz brown sugar honey simple syrup*
1/2 oz fresh lemon juice
1/2 oz fresh orange juice
6 drops Bitter End Memphis BBQ Bitters
1 egg white
Instructions:
Dry shake all ingredients for 45 seconds (no ice)
Add ice and shake again. Double strain up.
*brown sugar honey simple: Over low medium heat, add 8 oz water, 4 oz brown sugar, 3 oz Colorado honey. Stir until sugar is dissolved. Let cool, bottle, and refrigerate.
The Release
This is a very limited release and historically has flown off the shelves. It will be released at 11 a.m. on February 14th 2025, exclusively sold at Breckenridge Distillery’s two locations, and you can try the beer at Breckenridge Brewery’s Brewpub locations. The good news, we might have another barrel aging that could bring a sixth release in 2026. But why wait?
Distillery Shuttle is complimentary & gratuity is appreciated
Call to schedule a shuttle ride the day of your visit. We recommend calling at 2pm to schedule.
Our shuttle is on a first come, first serve basis.
Rides are not guaranteed and are schedule, location, and weather dependent.
We allow a 5 min grace period upon shuttle arrival before our shuttle will depart to their next pickup.
Only service within Breckenridge town limits.
Maximum of 11 guests per ride. If more than 11 guests, must be scheduled ahead of time. Please call the shuttle driver at 2pm prior to your visit to book a second shuttle. We will not transport more than 11 guests at a time.
Shuttle gives priority to Restaurant guests. All Events must be prescheduled pick-ups and will be picked up according to the shuttles availability if needed day of. Please contact events@breckdistillery.com to book an event shuttle.
