The Minturn Whisky Society
Terms and Questions
How the Society works, in plain words. The questions come first; the terms that hold it all together follow.
Questions
What is the Minturn Whisky Society?
It is Minturn’s secret life: a hidden meeting room, a logbook of deeds done around the valley, and a fish that grows with every one. It is our way of thanking the people who are part of our story.
How do I find it?
If you are reading this, you have probably found the matchbook already. If not, keep looking.
Does it cost anything?
No. Joining is free and always will be.
Do I have to buy whisky to take part?
No. Nothing you buy adds inches to your fish. Every stamp is earned by doing something: visiting, exploring, bringing a friend, looking after the valley. You do have to be 21 or older, though.
Why a fish?
Because, quite honestly, the thing we love almost as much as whisky is fishing… and skiing, of course. We don’t really measure a good day in inches, or even in fish caught. It is about time on the water, or on the mountain. In real life we practice catch and release, but in the Society every stamp adds inches to your fish, and you never have to put it back. Its length is your size: Fingerling, Keeper, Big Fish, Whisky, and finally the Hog.
What is a Hog?
What locals call the big ones. Fill your logbook, press the wax seal, and you have landed yours.
What do I get?
The rewards for each size are on the net in the Secret Meeting Room: Society gear made only for members, first access to the Society Bottles, a place in the Registry of Legends, a Mystery Prize, and more.
What is the Mystery Prize?
We are keeping that one to ourselves for now.
What are the Society Bottles, and how do I buy one?
Our smallest release: just 50 bottles, blended especially for the Society and a little more experimental than our larger runs. Once your fish reaches Whisky size you can buy one before anyone else, at the full price. There is no discount and no free bottle: the reward is being first in line.
Can you ship to me?
We ship to the states the law allows, which does not include Colorado. Colorado members collect from the Wee Dram in Minturn. The current list is shown at checkout. At first we will not keep Society Bottles with our distributor, so a Society Bottle may take a little longer than usual to reach you.
What is the Charter?
The level beyond the Hog. Land your Hog and the Chart opens: places in the valley to find, each one filling in a corner of the Minturn map. Complete the map and you are a Charter member.
How does The Tithe work? Do you check?
Leave the forest better than you found it by carrying out a piece of trash, then tell your logbook you did. We will take your word for it.
I cleared my browser, or got a new phone. Where did my fish go?
If you saved your logbook with your email address, it is kept in the Society’s register as well as your browser. Send for your key from the logbook, open it on the new device, and your fish is back at full length. If you never saved it, your logbook lived only in that browser; write to us with your member number and we will do what we can.
Will my name be shown anywhere?
Only if you ask. Anything public in the Society uses member numbers. On the globe we show your home town, never your street.
I am under 21. Can I join?
Not yet. The Society is for adults 21 and over.
How do I leave?
Unsubscribe from any of our emails, or write to us and we will close your logbook and take you out of the register.
Who do I ask about anything else?
Write to us at info@minturnwhisky.com, or ask at the Wee Dram.
The Terms
1. Who runs the Society
The Minturn Whisky Society is run by Minturn Whisky Co., based in Minturn, Colorado (“we” and “us”). By opening a Society logbook or using a member number, you agree to these terms.
2. Who can join
- You must be 21 or older to join or take part. We may ask for ID at any time, and we always will at the Wee Dram.
- Membership is free. Nothing has to be bought to join, and nothing you buy adds inches to your fish.
- One logbook and one member number per person. Membership is yours alone and cannot be sold, shared or transferred.
- Employees of Minturn Whisky Co., and officers, employees and representatives of any alcohol wholesaler or retailer, may take part but cannot receive rewards.
- We may decline a membership, or end one, if these terms are broken.
3. Stamps and inches
- You earn stamps by doing the deeds listed in your logbook. Each stamp adds inches to your fish, and the inches for each stamp are shown beside it in the logbook and on the net in the Secret Meeting Room.
- Stamps cannot be bought, sold or traded.
- Most stamps come with their own proof: a code, a photo or a visit. The Tithe is taken on trust. We may ask about any stamp, and we may remove a stamp we believe was not earned.
- Your fish never shrinks. Inches do not expire, and only a stamp we remove as not earned can take them away.
- We may add, change or retire stamps, and change the inches each is worth. A change will never take away a size you have already reached.
4. Sizes and levels
- Your fish is measured in inches, and its length is your size: Fingerling (under 14 inches), Keeper (14), Big Fish (18), Whisky (20) and Hog (24).
- There are two levels of standing. A Hog has completed the logbook. A Charter member has also completed the Minturn map, once the Chart is open to them.
5. Rewards
- The rewards for each size and level are listed on the net in the Secret Meeting Room. They are thanks for taking part, not things you have paid for.
- No reward is alcohol, a discount on alcohol, or cash, and no reward can be exchanged for cash.
- Designs, sizes and colors of Society gear may change. If an item runs out, we may give you something of similar value instead.
- The Mystery Prize, and anything described as “and more”, is given at our discretion. It is not a draw or a game of chance, and it is not promised on any schedule.
- Rewards are collected at the Wee Dram in Minturn.
- When you land a Hog, you are written into the Registry of Legends in the Secret Meeting Room and into our logbook at the Distillery. The Registry shows your member number, or your name if you ask us to show it.
6. Society Bottles
- Society Bottles are our smallest release. The first run is 50 bottles.
- Members whose fish has reached Whisky size may buy them before they are offered to anyone else. Charter members may buy them 24 hours before that.
- Early access is a chance to buy at the full listed price. It is never a discount and never a free bottle.
- If demand for Society Bottles is higher than the run, they will be offered only to Society members, and we may set a limit per member at our discretion.
- Every sale follows the law where you are. You must be 21 or older, and ID is checked at pickup and on delivery. We ship only to states where we are allowed to, which do not include Colorado, so members in Colorado collect their bottles from the Wee Dram. The current list is shown at checkout.
7. Your logbook and your information
- Until you save it with your email address, your logbook is kept only in your own web browser. Once you save it, we keep your stamps, their dates and your member number in the Society’s register on our website, so your logbook can follow you to any device. A key sent to your email opens it on a new one. We use these only to keep your logbook, send your key and arrange the rewards you earn. They are never shown publicly or sold, and you can ask us to delete them at any time.
- When you save your logbook with your email address, you join our email list with a Society note on your record. You can unsubscribe at any time from any email we send.
- Anything shown publicly in the Society uses member numbers, not names, unless you ask us to show your name. On the globe we show your home town, never a street address, and the place your Pocket Water went.
- Our privacy policy explains how we handle personal information.
8. Photos you send us
- When you send a photo for a stamp, you confirm it is yours to share and that anyone in it is 21 or older and agrees to it being shared.
- You give us permission to show it in the Society, on our website and on our social channels, credited to your member number. You can ask us to take it down at any time.
- Please send nothing that shows unsafe or irresponsible drinking, or anyone under 21.
9. Drink responsibly
Please drink responsibly. The Society is about time well spent in the valley, not about drinking more. Some deeds take you outdoors: you take part at your own risk, follow the rules of the land you are on, carry out what you carry in, and never drink and drive. Please do not share or forward this content to anyone under the legal drinking age. To find out more about responsible drinking, visit Responsibility.org.
10. Changes to the Society
We may change these terms, or change, pause or end the Society, at any time. Changes are posted on this page with a new date. If the Society ends, rewards you have already earned will be honored for 90 days.
11. Our responsibility
The Society is offered as it is. As far as the law allows, we are not responsible for a logbook that was never saved with an email address and is lost to a browser or a device, or for anything that happens on a deed you choose to take on.
12. Law
These terms are governed by the laws of the State of Colorado.
13. Contact
Write to us at info@minturnwhisky.com, or find us at the Wee Dram on Main Street in Minturn.
Last updated October 23, 2026