Beverage Artisan: Spirits
An Interview with Frank Holloway, Founder
Photos by Stephanie Cameron
Left: Sandia Margarita with Hollow Spirits Silver Agave. Middle: Greek-Jito with Hollow Spirits Rum. Right: Slice of Heaven with Hollow Spirits Vodka.
Frank Holloway was attracted to the service industry, where he has spent his entire career, because he loves bringing a smile to his patrons’ faces. A native New Mexican, Holloway was born in Belen.
How did Hollow Spirits come to be?
While I was an owner at a local brewery, a good childhood friend insisted that I open my own distillery. After months of consideration, I put together a business plan and brought it to my mother, Donna Salas, and asked her to be my first investor. She agreed to invest and took it a step further, offering to not only be an investor but a business partner in Hollow Spirits. It was important to Donna and me to build this distillery based on quality and education and, most importantly, focused on family.
Tell us about your spirits. In what ways do flavors of the New Mexico landscape make their way into them?
The Hollow Spirits staff consists of mostly native New Mexicans, so everything we are and everything we do is New Mexican. Our cuisine, spirits, and cocktails all come with a New Mexican twist.
Left: Passion-Ista with Hollow Spirits Rum. Right: Frank Holloway, founder of Hollow Spirits.
What are the hardest parts about creating a top-notch whiskey in New Mexico?
One obstacle that we face is the New Mexico climate. New Mexico is extremely dry, with greatly varying temperatures, which is like cooking our whiskey on high heat. We battle this by constantly tasting and rotating barrels around the distillery. We love this because the New Mexico air provides a flavor that cannot be re-created.
How much are you able to source locally?
We love our state and the quality of products it offers. Right now we are only sourcing New Mexico red corn from Tucumcari for our flagship bourbon, Red 96. We hope to source more local products as they become available.
What’s the perfect cocktail pairing with a green chile cheeseburger?
Our extremely talented team of mixologists is coming up with fun new cocktails all the time. Our team loves green chile on our burgers and pickles in our drinks! With that in mind, our mixologists created the Kind of a Big Dill cocktail. This cocktail features the Hollow
Spirits Pickle Vodka, lime juice, pineapple juice, and simple syrup, and is rimmed with chamoy and Tajín. This combination of sweet and salty pairs perfectly with a green chile cheeseburger.
Describe a perfect day off.
Sitting by a fire, watching my daughter play, and sipping on Hollow Spirits Red 96 bourbon.
What is a local food issue that is important to you?
Currently, there is an issue with consistent availability of many products. Luckily, we have a creative team that navigates this with menu changes that go with the flow of availability but never sacrifice quality.
Is there anything else you’d like to share with edible readers?
Hollow Spirits can’t wait to take New Mexican spirits to a national and global level!
1324 First Street NW, Albuquerque, 505-433-2766, hollowspirits.com
Edible celebrates New Mexico's food culture, season by season. We believe that knowing where our food comes from is a powerful thing. With our high-quality, aesthetically pleasing and informative publication, we inspire readers to support and celebrate the growers, producers, chefs, beverage and food artisans, and other food professionals in our community.
