The High West Distillery & Saloon in Park City, Utah High West Distillery is a manufacturer of

distilled spirits Liquor (or a spirit) is an alcoholic drink produced by distillation of grains, fruits, vegetables, or sugar, that have already gone through alcoholic fermentation. Other terms for liquor include: spirit drink, distilled beverage or hard li ...

located in

Park City, Utah Park City is a city in Utah, United States. The vast majority is in Summit County, and it extends into Wasatch County. It is considered to be part of the Wasatch Back. The city is southeast of downtown Salt Lake City and from Salt Lake City' ...

, United States. It is the first legally licensed

distillery Distillation, or classical distillation, is the process of separating the components or substances from a liquid mixture by using selective boiling and condensation, usually inside an apparatus known as a still. Dry distillation is the heati ...

in Utah since the end of the American

Prohibition Prohibition is the act or practice of forbidding something by law; more particularly the term refers to the banning of the manufacture, storage (whether in barrels or in bottles), transportation, sale, possession, and consumption of alcoholic ...

Distillery, restaurant, and saloon

The

operates, along with a saloon and restaurant, in an old

livery A livery is an identifying design, such as a uniform, ornament, symbol or insignia that designates ownership or affiliation, often found on an individual or vehicle. Livery will often have elements of the heraldry relating to the individual or ...

stable A stable is a building in which livestock, especially horses, are kept. It most commonly means a building that is divided into separate stalls for individual animals and livestock. There are many different types of stables in use today; the ...

dubbed "The National Garage", and in the adjacent historic Ellsworth J Beggs house, a two-story box house that was built in 1907. The house is on the

National Register of Historic Places The National Register of Historic Places (NRHP) is the United States federal government's official list of districts, sites, buildings, structures and objects deemed worthy of preservation for their historical significance or "great artistic v ...

Distillation

High West makes its spirits in small batches in a 250-gallon

copper Copper is a chemical element with the symbol Cu (from la, cuprum) and atomic number 29. It is a soft, malleable, and ductile metal with very high thermal and electrical conductivity. A freshly exposed surface of pure copper has a pinkis ...

pot still A pot still is a type of distillation apparatus or still used to distill liquors such as whisky or brandy. In modern (post-1850s) practice, they are not used to produce rectified spirit, because they do not separate congeners from ethanol as eff ...

. High West uses a combination still, which allows for both use as either a continuous/reflux still or separately a pot still; this allows for a variety of unique distillates to be produced. In a July 28, 2014 article, it was revealed that many High West products, sold as "craft whiskeys" or "artisanal spirits", are actually modified from products purchased from MGP Distillery of Lawrenceburg, Indiana.

Products

Rendezvous Rye Whiskey was the first commercial offering from High West Distillery. Originally, Rendezvous Rye was not distilled in Utah, but instead a blend of a 6-year-old 95% rye whiskey and 16-year-old 80% rye whiskey sourced from MGP (Indiana) and Barton (Kentucky) respectively. The whiskey was blended in Utah by High West using water from local sources. Rendezvous Rye was a 2008 Winner of a Double Gold Medal at San Francisco Spirits competition. It received a Malt Advocate Rating of 95 in the September 2008 issue, Batch #10, and was one of Malt Advocate Magazine's "Top 10 New Whiskies of 2008." High West does distill and age its own whiskey, and over time has blended it into their existing products. Today, the previously award winning Rendezvous Rye carries a much younger age statement (4-7 years). High West has received some criticism for selling its own younger distillate under the same brand equity as the original sourced, much older, product. Other regularly released products include their American Prairie Bourbon, which is still sourced from MGP and other undisclosed distilleries, aged 2-13 years; Double Rye!, a blend of 2-7 year old rye whiskeys sourced from MGP and using High West's own distillate; and Campfire, a 4-8 year old blend of MGP and High West rye whiskeys, MGP bourbon, and an undisclosed source of blended Malt Scotch whiskey. Limited releases include BOURYE: Limited Sighting, which is a blend of a straight rye whiskey and two straight bourbon whiskeys - all sourced from MGP (non-age stated), and A Midwinter's Night Dram, a non-age stated blend of MGP and High West rye whiskeys. Both are released annually in limited amounts. Discontinued releases include Yippee Ki-Yay, a blend of 2 year old High West rye whiskey and 16 year old sourced rye whiskey finished in used vermouth and syrah French oak barrels. Launched in 2015, only less than 30,000 bottles were ever produced. High West announced its discontinuation in July 2020.

References

External links

High West Distillery

{{Coord, 40, 38, 48, N, 111, 29, 55, W, format=dms, display=title, type:landmark_region:US-UT Buildings and structures in Summit County, Utah Commercial buildings on the National Register of Historic Places in Utah Companies based in Utah Distilleries in the United States Industrial buildings and structures in Utah 2007 establishments in Utah Rye whiskey National Register of Historic Places in Summit County, Utah American companies established in 2007 Food and drink companies established in 2007 Food and drink companies based in Utah

Distillery, restaurant, and saloon

Distillation

Products

See also

References

External links