The Family Jones, Hoot & Howl Spirits Tie for Colorado Best-of-State Honors

The Family Jones, Hoot & Howl Spirits Tie for Colorado Best-of-State Honors

Colorado distillers share state's top honor in 2025 Heartland Whiskey Competition

Centennial, CO - October 12, 2026] - Two Colorado craft distillers tied for Best-of-State honors in the 2025 Heartland Whiskey Competition, a national competition highlighting craft whiskey and the corn growers who help make it possible.

The Family Jones, represented by Rob Masters, and Hoot & Howl Spirits, represented by Cal Deline, earned identical top scores among Colorado entries to share the state's Best-of-State honor in the fifth biennial competition. The Heartland Whiskey Competition is organized by the American Craft Spirits Association (ACSA) with support from state corn marketing associations, including the Colorado Corn Promotion Council.

Best-of-State honors are awarded to the highest-scoring whiskey from each participating sponsored state during the competition's blind judging process. Colorado was one of two states with a tie for Best-of-State in 2025.

For The Family Jones, the honor marks a return to the top of the Colorado results. The distillery previously earned Colorado Best-of-State honors in the 2021 Heartland Whiskey Competition for its Ella Jones Colorado Straight Bourbon.

"Colorado is known for its mountains, but we also have rich agricultural traditions. We take pride in using only Colorado grains in our products, so winning the State's best Bourbon award was extra special because Colorado Corn and the farmers who grow it for us are very important to the final product.

The grains in our bourbon were grown 5 miles from our distillery by The Olander family, a 5th-generation, centennial farm. The Olanders and their malting business, Root Shoot Malting, are an amazing resource for distillers and brewers. They use regenerative agriculture practices that make for the best possible growing conditions.

These amazing grains paired with our proprietary yeast strains, double pot distillation, and Mother Nature's fingerprints on the aging process and our wonderful water combine to make our award-winning bourbon." - Rob Masters, Head Distillers/Partner, The Family Jones

Hoot and Howl, based out of Golden, Colorado, is a relative newcomer.

"As a young brand, co-winning Best of State for Colorado is a huge honor - especially when you consider the depth of talent coming out of the Colorado whiskey scene right now. It's also a real reassurance that not only can we compete and win at that level, but that there's still a genuine appetite for small-batch, finished whiskey.

All of our bourbons are specifically blended for and finished in a secondary cask. We submitted both our Armagnac Cask Bourbon and our Amaro Cask Bourbon, and won with both. Each spent a full year in its respective finishing cask - a secondary maturation that's three to four times longer than the industry standard. That additional time allows the bourbon to fully marry with those new flavors and integrate in a much smoother, more nuanced way than a shorter finish allows." - Cal Deline, Founder, Hoot & Howl Spirits

The Heartland Whiskey Competition is open to craft whiskeys from all 50 states that incorporate corn in their mash bill, or the mixture of grains used to make whiskey. In addition to Best-of-State honors, whiskeys compete for Best-of-Show, Farmer-Distiller awards and recognition in traditional whiskey categories including bourbon, rye and corn whiskey.

The competition is supported by participating state corn marketing associations as a way to highlight the many uses of corn while supporting an industry made up predominantly of small and family-owned businesses.

"Colorado's corn producers are proud to support a competition that connects the work happening in our fields with the innovative products being created by craft distillers," said Jessica Brophy, president of the Colorado Corn Promotion Council. "Corn is an incredibly versatile crop, and the Heartland Whiskey Competition is a great example of the value it brings to products and businesses outside the farm."

Judging for the 2025 competition took place in mid-July. ACSA facilitated the blind judging process, with former ACSA Board President Chris Montana, owner of Du Nord Social Spirits in Minnesota, serving as Judging Director for the fifth consecutive Heartland competition. Judges were selected from the spirits industry by ACSA based on their knowledge of craft whiskey.

Nationally, Best-of-Show honors went to 1845 Distilling Co. of Lowry Crossing, Texas, for its Texian No 01 Texas Straight Whiskey, which also earned the top score in the Straight Whiskey category.

"Several factors contribute to what is today a more challenging period for craft distillers which are often small, family-run businesses. Our member-distillers are grateful for the support of the state corn associations through five cycles of this important competition," stated Margie A.S. Lehrman, CEO of ACSA. "We greatly appreciate their continued support and the fact they supply our members with the best corn product in the world."

The 2025 competition saw significant growth in the number of participating states and an expansion of the Farmer-Distiller awards. Only 20 whiskeys received gold medals, while 91 earned silver and 23 received bronze.

Farmer-distillers - participants who both own a distillery and operate a working farm - accounted for approximately 40 percent of this year's entries, demonstrating the close connection between agriculture and craft spirits production.

Scoring and Medal Criteria

Whiskeys were scored by judges hand-selected from the North American spirits community using a 100-point system with 10 areas of consideration: Appearance (10 points), Aroma Intensity (10 points), Aroma Complexity (10 points), Palate Concentration (10 points), Palate Complexity (10 points), Body (10 points), Alcohol (10 points), Texture (10 points), Finish (10 points) and Pour for a Peer (10 points).

Whiskeys were assigned medals based on their average scores, with 70-79 points earning Bronze, 80-89 earning Silver and 90-100 earning Gold.

Best-of-State honors were awarded to the highest-scoring whiskey from each sponsored state. Best-of-Show was selected from the competition's top-scoring whiskeys. Farmer-Distiller awards recognized qualifying distilleries whose owners also maintain a working farm.

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About: The Colorado Corn Promotion Council (CCPC) was established over 30 years ago to manage a one-penny-per-bushel assessment collected by first handlers of sales of corn in the state. For more information about the Colorado Corn Promotion Council please visit www.coloradocorn.com.

About: The American Craft Spirits Association is the only national registered nonprofit trade association representing the U.S. craft spirits industry. Its mission is to elevate and advocate for the community of craft spirits producers, and membership in ACSA is open to anyone. ACSA is governed by a Board of Directors elected by eligible voting members of the Association. Voting members must be independent, licensed distillers (DSPs) annually removing fewer than 750,000 proof gallons from bond - the amount on which a Federal Excise Tax is paid.