Denver's superstar chefs aren't the only ones coming up with innovative creations. Skilled bartenders at the Mile High City's restaurants, nightclubs and lounges mix fantastic cocktails (often using Colorado-distilled spirits) on a nightly basis. Drink up!

SOPHISTICATED SPIRITS

Try some of Denver’s best spirits at some of Denver’s best restaurants.

• Downtown Denver’s new (but old school), speakeasy-style watering hole, Green Russell (1422 Larimer St.), offers the Jalisco Sour: blanco tequila, mescal, Leopold Bros. peach whiskey, fresh grapefruit and lime juices, and black-pepper syrup.
• The Squeaky Bean’s (3301 Tejon St.) bracing Cowboy Coffee cocktail consists of Stranahan’s whiskey, Angostura bitters, coffee beans, Demerara simple and lemon peel.
• Head to the Ship Tavern in the historic Brown Palace Hotel (321 17th St.) for a Colorado Sidecar, made with Stranahan’s Whiskey, Grand Marnier, simple syrup and lime juice.
• The curiously-named-but-delicious Corpse Reviver at Jax Fish House (1539 17th St.) is a mix of Leopold Bros. American small batch gin, cointreau, cocchi Americano, fresh lemon juice with a rinse of absinthe.
• Get adventurous at ChoLon Bistro (1555 Blake St.) and order the Old Saigon, with Stranahan’s Whiskey, muddled Thai basil, Luxardo Cherries and housemade bitters.
• Duo Restaurant (2413 W. 32nd. Ave.) offers the enticing Blackberry Sage Manhattan, with Leopold Bros. blackberry whiskey spiked with sage and lemon.

COLORADO'S SIGNATURE COCKTAIL: THE TREE LINE

In June of 2011, the Colorado Distillers Guild and the Colorado Bartenders Guild (along with co-sponsors Westword and MCA Denver) hosted the Colorado Cocktail Contest. The aim? To get the state's best mixologists to create a signature Centennial State cocktail. The competition was fierce, but Marnie Ward of Denver's Avenue Grill emerged victorious with the Tree Line, a cocktail that makes use of Leopold Brothers' Small Batch Whiskey and Herbal Liqueur. The recipe:

Tree Line
2 Bing cherries
2 oz. Leopold's Small Batch Whiskey
.5 oz Leopold's Three Pins Alpine Herbal Liqueur
.5 oz fresh squeezed lemon juice
.5 oz simple syrup

Muddle cherries, lemon juice and simple syrup; add whiskey and Three Pins; add ice and shake. Serve up. Garnish with round slice of lemon peel (to replicate the Colorado sun). Drink and enjoy!