Breckinridge, Colorado (January 31, 2025) – 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 freshly dumped Bourbon Whiskey barrels and aged their Imperial Oatmeal Stout in them. YUM! Then they took those barrels back and filled them with Bourbon Whiskey and aged it for over a year and are calling this one, Sexy Motor Oil.
This release will be the sixth time they have 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, they distill whiskey and they brew beer.
SMO started as Breckenridge Brew Pub’s Imperial Oatmeal Stout. They 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 they decided to turn that into a beer-barrel whiskey.
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.
This is a very limited release and historically, has flown off the shelves. It will be released at 11 a.m. on February 14, 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.
