In mid-November, just as the mountain towns were waking up from shoulder-season hibernation and preparing for the ski season, my husband and I popped into Minturn and stumbled upon the cutest (and likely smallest) whisky tasting room in Colorado.
No hyperbole: The Wee Dram on Minturn’s Main Street is a cozy, 135-square-foot, 12-seat drinking den where husband and wife Spence and Stefanie Neubauer pour tipples of single malt whisky and serve cocktails like Old Fashioneds and peated Manhattans.
Plaid pillows, antique chairs, reclaimed wood and framed oil paintings created by Stefanie Neubauer fill the cozy, convivial space that locals and tourists pour into. On this particular night, holiday music plays and quarter-size snowflakes fall outside the petite stained-glass windows. The Neubauers’ Eagle River Whisky (which will undergo a name change this month, becoming the Minturn Whisky Co.) is made locally in this small mountain town of 1,000.
Minturn is most definitely having a moment right now.
The funky old railroad town about 2 miles south of Interstate 70 sprung up in the late 1800s. The Denver & Rio Grande railroad line extended across the state of Colorado and railroad workers from around the country came to Minturn, an important railroad stop, where they installed extra engines in railroad cars to give them more oomph to get over steep mountain passes.
Related: 10 iconic places in Colorado to have a drink
About 10 minutes to Vail Resort and 15 to Beaver Creek Resort, Minturn today offers a cool, easier-on-the-pocketbook alternative for those spending a night in the high country, with creative new businesses joining the staples that include the Minturn Saloon, a popular spot for après margaritas that’s been in the Vail Valley since 1901 and reopened in 2023 with a remodel and new ownership. At the iconic Minturn Country Club, diners cook their own steaks and shrimp kabobs on a lava rock grill to pair with sides like twice-baked potatoes.
Out-of-towners come to ski (and go skinning, or uphilling, on Meadow Mountain), hike, bike and go fly fishing for trout in the Eagle River. On any given winter morning in Minturn, skiers are bundled in their winter jackets with gear in tow, waiting for a bus ride to Vail Ski Resort. The most skilled among them return to town via the Minturn Mile, a legendary backcountry route accessed via Vail’s Lost Boy Trail that’s probably closer to 3 miles.
“Minturn feels the way ski towns did in the 1980s before they got built up,” says Stefanie Neubauer, who is among residents who have snapped up plots along Main Street in hopes to keep this pocket of Eagle County locally owned.
The Neubauers plan to break ground on their new distillery in the spring and, while under construction, they’ll keep the Wee Dram parked on Main Street, with The Chi Shack food truck serving Chicago-style dogs out front. They join Main Street neighbors like Sunrise Minturn, a breakfast spot that puts the spotlight on local businesses, serving coffee roasted in Eagle by Color Coffee and preparing French toast with Avon Bakery’s brioche, as well as Alpine Kind, a mountain-inspired clothing and gift shop.
Helping spur the revitalization and bring overnight guests to Minturn is the newly madeover boutique hotel, the Eagle River Inn, 145 N. Main St. in Minturn, which reopened last summer directly across from the Minturn Saloon. The boutique has a B&B feel with two dozen rooms, plus a two-room suite. (Rates start at $299 in the winter and $165 in the summer, including a complimentary breakfast.)
Tierney and Joe DeLude, who met in Aspen, recently moved to Minturn from Chicago and purchased the historic property that had mostly shut down, save for occasional full property buyouts throughout the year.
Eagle River Inn/Courtesy photo
The Eagle River Inn, which reopened last summer, dates back to the late 1800s. (Provided by the Eagle River Inn)
The Eagle River Inn dates back to the late 1800s and once served as a bunkhouse for railroad workers, divvied up into 28 super small rooms, Tierney DeLude says. Over the course of its history, famous guests have been rumored to stay here, including Western movie star John Wayne, who was in town and visiting the Minturn Saloon.
A remodel of the historic inn in the mid-1980s veered the hotel’s design to a Santa Fe-like style. Now, after a significant remodel, mountain modern aesthetics meets Southwestern design at the boutique inn that’s made of stucco, and features exposed beams, retro-inspired ski photographs, a Kiva fireplace and historic photos of the property. The inn retains some of its signature fixtures from the past, like a striking hand-carved wooden door adorned with brass coyotes.
Those staying at the Eagle River Inn gather in the cozy living room to read in cozy nooks and sip cocktails. Tierney DeLude says she’s even seen guests bring their sketchbooks and draw the scenes outside the window of the Eagle River. The inn also has a spacious hot tub and outdoor lounge areas with seating and firepits along the river.
“When people come to Minturn, they feel like they’ve discovered a unique place that not everyone knows about,” Tierney DeLude says.
