Provided by Christine Gamage/Telluride Autumn ClassicSteven Abbott Smith opened Telluride Distilling Co. 2015 with his wife Joanna Smith. Abbott, as friends knew him, died May 21, 2022 in a motorcycle accident. The co-founder of Telluride’s namesake distillery died over the weekend after being involved in a motorcycle accident, Mountain Village Police announced Sunday. According to a statement issued by police, Steven Abbott Smith, a Mountain Village resident and co-owner of Telluride Distilling Co., was on his way home Saturday around 6:30 p.m.