The story of onyx & amber
Onyx & Amber didn't start as a company. It started as a bourbon group—a community of people who genuinely loved what was in the glass and wanted to find more of it.
Over ten years, we conducted more than 150 single-barrel selections across the country. Along the way, we raised over half a million dollars for charity. And somewhere in the middle of all that, we started noticing something about Colorado—something the barometric pressure swings and the dry mountain air were doing to the spirits in the barrels that nobody else was paying close attention to.
We tasted it. We waited. We tasted again. By 2022, the results were undeniable: whiskey aged in Colorado carried a richness, a viscosity, and a depth that the same distillate simply couldn't develop anywhere else.
This wasn't forced into existence. It grew out of almost a decade of experimentation, learning, and a clear-eyed view of two problems in the market: there was no great high-end Colorado whiskey brand, and the barrel selection experience that enthusiasts once loved had quietly disappeared after COVID. We built Onyx & Amber to fix both.
Two Problems,
One Solution
We didn't force this into existence. It grew out of almost a decade of experimentation, learning, and a clear-eyed view of two problems in the market:
First: There was no great high-end Colorado whiskey brand at the level we were looking for as serious enthusiasts.
Second: The barrel selection experience that enthusiasts once loved had quietly disappeared after COVID. What used to be exciting—spending time in a warehouse, tasting dozens of options, feeling like you were part of the process—had become scripted, rushed, or simply unavailable.
We built Onyx & Amber to fix both.
What Colorado does
People often assume it's the altitude. It's not—or not entirely. The real drivers are two things unique to Colorado's climate: intense barometric pressure swings and how extraordinarily dry it is.
Colorado weather shifts fast. Snow at 7 AM, 55 degrees by 2 PM. Those pressure changes force the whiskey in and out of the barrel wood far more frequently than it would in Kentucky or Indiana—more interaction, more flavor extraction over time.
The dryness does something else. Whiskey is water and ethanol. In Colorado's dry air, water escapes the barrel. Ethanol stays. What's left is a higher concentration of everything that matters: the vanilla, the caramel, the depth. The result is a whiskey that's richer, more viscous, more concentrated than the same distillate aged anywhere else.
We don't claim it ages "faster." Seven years is seven years. But at seven years in Colorado, it drinks like something that's been aging for twelve.
The Name
Onyx & Amber is both an homage and a reminder.
Onyx represents our theory of single barrels. Two onyx stones found side by side in nature can look nearly identical on the outside—but crack them open, and what you'll find inside can be completely different. That's exactly what happens with two barrels that have lived side by side for a decade. You can't control it. You can't predict it. That's the point.
Amber is a reminder about patience. Amber takes a very long time to fossilize. Nothing at Onyx & Amber is released before it's ready—whether that's at seven years or twelve. The product tells us when it's done. Not the other way around.
What Sets Us Apart
When someone comes in for a barrel selection, they get handed a drill. They go into the warehouse. They start tasting. There's no clock, no pressure, no "pick one of these three." We tell customers exactly what they're tasting—the distillery, the mash bill, how long it's been in Colorado, when it arrived. Full transparency, every time.
The Experience
is Real
Onyx & Amber doesn't chase consistency. We buy small—eight to twenty barrels at a time—and embrace the variance. Two bottles from the same distillery, same age, can taste completely different. That's not a flaw. It's the entire philosophy. Every pour is a chance to discover something new.
Every expression
is different
Because this is a passion project—not something built to serve investor timelines—there's no pressure to release before it's ready. We source personally, barrel by barrel, guided by what actually tastes extraordinary. The packaging is beautiful, but it never comes at the cost of what's inside.
Quality Without
Compromise
In a market where NDPs often obscure their sourcing, Onyx & Amber does the opposite. Customers know exactly what they're getting: where it came from, what's in it, and what Colorado has been doing to it. Respect for the consumer is a core value—not just a talking point.
Transparency is
non-negotiable.
Come experience it yourself.
We'd love to hand you a drill and help you find your own barrel.
Benjamin Rosen
FOUNDER
Ben's relationship with whiskey traces back to a family story. His great-grandfather once took a gin and tonic out of his father's hand at a wedding and replaced it with whiskey. "Rosen men don't drink gin," he said. "We drink whiskey."
That stuck.
About a decade ago, Ben started getting serious about whiskey. What began as personal exploration turned into the Colorado Bourbon & Rye Collectors—a group that would eventually conduct over 150 single-barrel selections across the country and raise more than $500,000 for charity.
Those ten years gave Ben two things: the connections to source exceptional barrels, and the understanding of what Colorado's environment could do to them.
The philosophy behind Onyx & Amber grew directly from that experience. When Ben led selections for the group, he wasn't looking for what would please the most people. He was looking for variance—barrels that tasted different from the distillery's standard profile, expressions that made you stop and think.
"I'm not a rerun guy," Ben says. "I don't rewatch movies. I don't want the same whiskey experience over and over. I want variety, discovery, something that surprises me."
That's what Onyx & Amber is built on. No reruns. Just new discoveries.
Our Values
TRANSPARENCY
Tell people exactly what they're drinking. Every time. No ambiguity, no marketing language designed to obscure.
RESPECT
Respect the product. Respect the consumer. Respect the industry. We don't assume we know better than the people drinking the whiskey.
PATIENCE
Good whiskey can't be rushed. Neither can what we're building. The amber philosophy applies to everything we do.
INTEGRITY
Release only what's ready. Source only what's exceptional. Don't compromise quality for volume or cash flow.
DISCOVERY
Every bottle is an opportunity for the consumer to find something they didn't know they loved. Embrace variance. Make it a feature.
These aren't just words on a page. They guide everything we do—from the barrels we select to the way we welcome you into the distillery.